Israeli PM rejects criticism over upcoming speech in U.S. congress

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the criticism upon his acceptance of an invitation by U.S. Republicans to speak at the country's congress next month.

Netanyahu has accepted an invitation by Republican House Speaker John Boehner to talk about the Iranian nuclear program, without coordinating the speech and visit to the White House.

"As the prime minister of Israel, I'm committed to making every effort in order to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons that would be aimed at the state of Israel," Netanyahu said at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.

"I will go to wherever I'm invited to in order to express Israel's stance and to defend its future and its existence," the prime minister added, according to a statement from his office.

Netanyahu is a known vocal hardliner when it comes to the negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 countries (Russia, China, U.S., U.K., France and Germany) over Iran's nuclear program, demanding Iran would forego all of its uranium enrichment capacities.

Netanyahu had reiterated a nuclear Iran is a "danger for Israel," whereas Iran charges its nuclear program is aimed at peaceful purposes. The P5+1 countries and Iran are currently negotiating in an attempt to reach a framework agreement.

U.S. Republicans are trying to pass a bill that would impose further sanctions on Iran, a move supported by Netanyahu. On the other hand, U.S. President Barack Obama urged congress in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday not to pass such legislation, and said he would veto such a bill if it would pass.

According to media reports in the U.S., Obama and other White House officials have been blindsided and are angry at Netanyahu, charging that Netanyahu snubbed the president, contributing to the already tense relationship between the countries.

The CNN news channel reported that last week, Obama urged Netanyahu not to push for more sanctions on Iran, in order not to damage its negotiations with the P5+1 countries.

"We asked the Israelis in private and public to sit tight and the president made it clear that if a deal wasn't reached he would be the first in line to advocate for more sanctions," a U.S. official told CNN.

Another U.S. official told the Israeli Ha'aretz daily that Netanyahu "spat in our face publicly and that's no way to behave."

The White House announced on Thursday that President Barack Obama would not meet with Netanyahu during the latter's visit.

Netanyahu is set to speak at the congress on March 3, two weeks before the Israeli national elections take place. On Sunday, several center-left politicians said they would approach the election committee over Netanyahu's planned appearance asking to ban it, as it is considered elections propaganda. Endit