White House fumes at Netanyahu "breach of protocol".

[David Guyatt]

Let's see, first Netanyahu attends the Paris Charlie Hedbo march when specifically asked by Hollande not to attend. Now he seems to be breaching protocol again by agreeing to go to Washington and deliver an address to Congress.

Maybe he should resign as Israeli prime minister and just take up the position of universal sainted one?

Politics is an awful thing...

White House says Benjamin Netanyahu's surprise trip to US is a breach of protocol

President Barack Obama was not informed of the Republicans' invitation to the Israeli leader to speak before a joint session of Congress

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The White House fears Benjamin Netanyahu will encourage Congress to derail the Iran nuclear talks Photo: CHRIS KLEPONIS/AFP/Getty Images






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By Raf Sanchez, Washington

7:13PM GMT 21 Jan 2015
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The White House has protested that Israel and the Republicans breached diplomatic protocol by organising a visit by Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington without first notifying President Barack Obama.

Hours after Mr Obama delivered his State of the Union address, Republicans tried to reclaim the media's attention by announcing they had invited the Israeli leader to deliver a speech to Congress.

The White House said it learned of the invitation shortly before it was made public by John Boehner, the Republican speaker of the House, and that the Israelis had not notified them of the trip as they normally would.

"This particular event seems to be a departure from that protocol," said Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary.

Mr Boehner invited the Israeli leader to speak on February 11 and asked him to address senators and congressmen about the "grave threats radical Islam and Iran pose to our security and way of life". The Israeli government has not yet said if the invitation has been accepted.

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Mr Boehner denied he was "poking anyone in the eye" by offering the invitation without consulting the White House.
It would be Mr Netanyahu's third address to Congress and will come just weeks before Israel's own election in March.
While Mr Obama's aides would bristle at being kept in the dark about any visit by a foreign leader, trips by Mr Netanyahu are particularly sensitive.
The Israeli prime minister has repeatedly criticised Mr Obama in public for his handling of the ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran and the White House fears he will use the speech to encourage Congress to derail the talks.
The White House said it would need to know what Mr Netanyahu "plans to say in his remarks to Congress" before deciding on whether there would be a meeting at the White House.
Mr Obama is trying to stop Republicans passing a bill that would impose new sanctions on Iran if the talks fail to reach an agreement by their June 30 deadline.
The White House argues that the bill would cause the Iranians to balk and fracture the international coalition assembled to conduct the negotiations in Geneva.
Republicans have so far signalled that they intend to move ahead with the sanctions bill despite Mr Obama's threat to veto it.
The Israeli embassy in Washington did not return a request for comment.