Netanyahu’s planned trip to Washington triggers outpouring of anger

A national leader's appearance before the U.S. Congress is usually a source of pride and unity. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned trip to Washington is opposed by the White House and has many Democrats in Israel in uproar.

Amid this controversy, the leader of centrist Yesh Atid party of Israel, Yair Lapid, said that the Israeli leader was causing "serious damage" to American ties and urged him to "stay home". In the 2013 parliamentary election, Yesh Atid garnered 14.19 percent of the votes, placing second and winning 19 seats in the Knesset.

Netanyahu jumped at the opportunity to address a joint session of Congress on March 3, two weeks before Israel's general election. The invitation was issued by the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, and engineered by Netanyahu's ambassador to Washington, Ron Dermer, a former Republican operative.

The decision has triggered an outpouring of anger in both U.S. and Israel.

The White House views the planned visit as a breach of protocol, because it was not coordinated well ahead of time with the U.S. administration, which learned about it just before it was made public. The White House also cited the close proximity of the election as the reason Obama wouldn't meet Netanyahu, saying the president wanted to avoid the appearance of taking sides.

U.S. officials also fear that the speech could upset the delicate talks with Iran. Several Democrats have said they would skip the speech, while others, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, have suggested that Netanyahu should postpone it.

Biden's office said the vice president would miss the address. Despite the stated American intention to stay out of Israeli domestic politics, Biden found the time to meet Netanyahu's chief rival, Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog, on the sidelines of a security conference in Germany.

Abe Foxman, director of the Anti-Defamation League, a leading Jewish American group, has urged Netanyahu to call off the visit. The pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC also has reservations because it is turning into a partisan event, according to a person involved in U.S.-Israel relations. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.

Israeli leaders across the political spectrum almost universally support Netanyahu's tough line toward Iran. But many opposition figures, including Herzog, have criticized Netanyahu's handling of the congressional speech, describing it as a cheap election stunt that would only undermine support for Israel in Washington.

Herzog's running mate, former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, said Netanyahu was damaging ties with the U.S. "for the sake of an election speech."

Even some of Netanyahu's sympathizers are saying he's misjudged the situation.

"You're right, but don't go," said the headline in a front-page commentary by columnist Ben-Dror Yemini in the Yediot Ahronot daily. "Obama is wrong and you're right. But if there is any chance of budging him from his position, then you are making every possible mistake and turning him into an adversary."

Michael Oren, who served as Netanyahu's ambassador to Washington until 2013, said that if he were still in the post, he would have advised his boss not to address Congress.

"The last thing you want is for support of the Jewish state to become the monopoly of one party," said Oren, who is now running for parliament with a newly formed centrist party. He said Netanyahu would do better to deliver his speech to the annual conference of AIPAC, which is attended by many members of congress. "You get the same effect without running the same risk," he told The Associated Press.

Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli consul-general in New York, called the planned visit a "horrendous idea" that demonstrated how poor Netanyahu's relationship with Obama has become.

Yet he argued that the uproar did serve Netanyahu's ambition to remain prime minister by focusing public debate on Iran and away from domestic bread-and-butter issues that hurt his party's chances of retaining power. Recent polls predict a tight race.

"This is not about Iran," he said. "This is 100 percent about elections."