After coming under fire from several members of Congress, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to Twitter on Tuesday to defend a planned address to the legislative body next month and said his country had “profound disagreements” with the United States on its negotiations with Iran.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) invited Netanyahu to speak to Congress while the White House is trying to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran. President Barack Obama has said he will not meet with the prime minister during the visit because of its proximity to the Israeli elections, which are just two weeks later. The administration has said Netanyahu breached protocol by not consulting the White House beforehand.
On Tuesday, Netanyahu tweeted that the survival of his country is at stake and that this isn’t a personal dispute with Obama.
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Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who announced Tuesday that he would not attend, called the speech a “tawdry and high-handed stunt.”
Netanyahu’s address is set for March 3.
