President Obama Not Meeting with Netanyahu

Mark 13:8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

President Obama will not meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he comes to Washington to address a joint session of Congress.

The White House stated that it is due to the close proximity of the Israeli elections.

“As a matter of long-standing practice and principle, we do not see heads of state or candidates in close proximity to their elections, so as to avoid the appearance of influencing a democratic election in a foreign country,” National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan stated.

House Speaker John Boehner exercised his right at Speaker of the House to invite a foreign leader to address Congress.  In this case, Boehner wants Netanyahu to speak to the Congress about problems with Iran and the need for stronger sanctions against that nation.

President Obama is working to ease sanctions against Iran.

Netanyahu will speak to Congress on March 3rd and being asked to appear in January.  The Israeli leader had previously planned to be in the U.S. for a conference in Washington on the March date so the speech was rescheduled to fit that trip.

Boehner said that he wants to move forward quickly on sanctions against Iran and that the speech from Netanyahu will allow members of Congress to understand what’s at stake in the region.

“Let’s send a clear message to the White House — and the world — about our commitment to Israel and our allies,” he said.

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