Some Democrats might skip Netanyahu talk to Congress

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi refused to use the B-word Thursday when talking about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s scheduled speech to a joint session of Congress next month.

Amid reports that several congressional Democrats might skip Netanyahu’s talk in protest of House Speaker John Boehner’s decision to invite him just ahead of Israel’s elections and while the Obama administration is engaged in nuclear negotiations with Iran, Pelosi refused to call a potential cluster of no-shows a boycott.

“I don’t think anybody should use the word ‘boycott,' “ said Pelosi, D-Calif. “When these heads of state come, people are here doing their work, they’re trying to pass legislation, they’re meeting with their constituents and the rest. It’s not a high-priority item for them.”

The White House and many congressional Democrats are fuming about Boehner’s invitation to Netanyahu, who has a frosty relationship with President Obama. They contend that Boehner breached protocol in issuing the invitation and put the U.S. in an awkward position of appearing to favor Netanyahu in Israel’s elections.

Despite criticism from both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue and from some Jewish groups in the U.S. and Israel, Boehner defended his decision to invite the prime minister.

“It was a very good idea,” Boehner told reporters. “There’s a message that the American people need to hear and I think he’s the perfect person to deliver it. The threat of radical Islamist terrorists is a real threat. The threat of Iran to the region and the rest of the world is a real threat. And I believe that the American people are interested in hearing the truth about what’s happening in that part of the world.”

Republicans have backed Boehner’s action, saying he has a right to invite Netanyahu or any other world leader or dignitary he wants to speak on Capitol Hill.

“I’m very pleased the speaker took the initiative to invite him. I think it’s perfectly appropriate,” said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla. “I don’t think we have to clear it with the president. We are a co-equal branch of government. He (Obama) certainly has been kind of thumbing his nose at Congress lately, so I’m kind of surprised he would complain when something like this happens.”

But Netanyahu’s upcoming speech has stirred concern in Washington and Tel Aviv. Democrats – even staunch supporters of Israel and advocates of increased sanctions against Iran – called Boehner’s invitation a slap at Obama.

Democratic outrage reached such a crescendo that Ron Dermer, Israel’s U.S. ambassador and a key figure in Boehner’s Netanyahu invite, met with some Democratic lawmakers Wednesday to allay their concerns.

This story was originally published February 5, 2015 at 8:14 PM with the headline "Some Democrats might skip Netanyahu talk to Congress."