Rep. G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina said Thursday night that he’ll boycott Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s scheduled joint address to Congress next month, calling the speech ‘a political stunt aimed at undercutting’ President Barack Obama.
Butterfield, D-N.C., chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said House Speaker John Boehner’s invitation to Netanyahu undermines the office of the president and is ‘an unprecedented overreach of the Speaker’s authority.’
‘For the Speaker to invite a head of state, of any country, to address the U.S. Congress without the consent of the (House) minority leader and the White House goes beyond the traditions of his office,’ Butterfield said in a statement. ‘It is baffling that Speaker Boehner, who incessantly proclaims executive overreach by the president, would buck long standing diplomatic protocol to extend such an invitation.’
Butterfield added that Boehner’s actions ‘unnecessarily politicize our steadfast relationship with Israel, and potentially subvert U.S. foreign policy.’
‘The United States is and will remain Israel’s strongest ally,’ Butterfield said. ‘However, I refuse to be a part of a political stunt aimed at undercutting President Obama.’
The White House and many congressional Democrats are angry about Boehner’s invitation to Netanyahu, who has a chilly relationship with Obama. They say Boehner breached protocol and put the U.S. in an awkward position of appearing to favor Netanyahu by having him speak on Capitol Hill ahead of Israel’s elections next month.
In addition, Boehner’s invitation was made as the Obama administration and Iran are in the midst of negotiating a nuclear deal.
Boehner, R-Ohio, defended the invitation Thursday.
‘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.’
Media reports earlier this week said dozens of lawmakers may skip Netanyahu’s speech. So far, Butterfield and Reps. John Lewis, D-Ga., and Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., are the only congressional lawmakers to say they won’t attend Netanyahu’s talk.
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