Update: this action, now closed, ran from January-March 2015. 

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ohio Republican John Boehner, has issued an invitation for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress on March 3.

Speaker Boehner issued this invitation without coordinating with the White House, in violation of protocol – but he violated much more than that.

By inviting Netanyahu to speak to Congress only two weeks before Israeli general elections in which Netanyahu is a candidate, Boehner violated the unwritten rule that Congress not meddle in a foreign county’s elections. But that’s not all.

Speaker Boehner has made clear that his goal in inviting Netanyahu at this time is to try to tip the balance in Congress against the White House in the ongoing debate over Iran nuclear negotiations and new Iran sanctions. Boehner’s move to use Israel, yet again, as a wedge issue in internal American politics, is inappropriate and irresponsible, violating the cardinal rule that U.S. support for Israel should not be turned into a partisan issue. Boehner’s invitation also represents a shameless attempt to exploit support for Israel to manipulate Congress into adopting policies that are potentially deeply harmful to U.S. national security and national interests.

Boehner’s invitation to Netanyahu has drawn criticism, bafflement, and outrage from across the spectrum – in the US, in Israel and around the world. The pro-Israel, pro-U.S., pro-peace in the Middle East position on this mess is clear: Boehner’s invitation to Netanyahu must be rescinded, and if Netanyahu is to be invited to address Congress, it should be on a date after the Israeli elections and after the Iran negotiations/sanctions debate between Congress and the White House has been completed.

We urge you: take action today. Contact Speaker Boehner urging him to rescind his invitation to Netanyahu and reschedule any Netanyahu address to Congress for a different date.

Even if you’re not a constituent, Rep. Boehner, as Speaker of the House, still needs to hear from you. 

It is critical that Boehner understand that Americans everywhere object to his action.  Call his office at (202) 225-0600.  Tell Speaker Boehner: “As a supporter of Israel, I want you to re-issue your invitation for the prime minister of Israel to address Congress for a later date – a date that is after negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program have concluded and after elections in Israel are complete and a new government is formed.”

After you have called Speaker Boehner, please click here to share this action.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ohio Republican John Boehner, has issued an invitation for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress on March 3.

Speaker Boehner issued this invitation without coordinating with the White House, in violation of protocol – but he violated much more than that.

Rabbi Esther L. Lederman is the associate rabbi of Temple Micah, in Washington, DC.  She travelled to Israel this December. 

Before I left for Israel on a quick trip this past December, I told a colleague, “I am going to have my heart broken.”  It had been six years since I had visited.  Way too long, in my opinion.  So off I went, expecting to return even more depressed about the state of affairs than when I left.  I was wrong. 

The Israeli prime minister has two main tasks, and he's failing at both.

Benjamin Netanyahu believes he has just one job, and that is to stop Iran from getting hold of nuclear weapons. He might argue that this description of his mission as Israel’s prime minister is too limiting, though such an argument would not be particularly credible. Israel’s very existence, he has argued, consistently, and at times convincingly, is predicated on stopping Iran, a country ruled by a regime that seeks both Israel’s annihilation and the means to carry it out.

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In light of the Palestinian decision to seek membership in the International Criminal Court (ICC), and to pursue action in that body, and consistent with APN’s longstanding Board-adopted principles regarding the efforts of the Palestinians in the international arena, APN today articulated the following principles, adopted earlier this month by APN’s Board of Directors:

This week, Alpher discusses the repercussions of the invitation to Netanyahu to address Congress; the Mossad advisory against escalating sanctions and Israel’s tactics against Iran; the attack last week across the Golan border that was attributed to Israel that resulted in the death of an Iranian Quds Force general; strategic ramifications for the elections given the united electoral list of Arab citizens of Israel and the Labor primaries having produced a list with an unusually large, young contingent of women reform advocates; the strategic balance sheet that King Salman inherits after the death of Saudi King Abdullah last week and a coup staged in Yemen by a Zaidi-Shiite sect;