Obama aide: Netanyahu speech 'destructive'

David Jackson | USA TODAY

Days before the contentious visit of Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington, President Obama's national security adviser says the Israel leader's planned speech to Congress could be "destructive" to the U.S.-Israeli relationship.

"There has now been injected a degree of partisanship, which is not only unfortunate — I think it's destructive of the fabric of the relationship," national security adviser Susan Rice told Charlie Rose of PBS.

The U.S.-Israeli relationship has "always been bipartisan," Rice said. "We need to keep it that way. We want it that way. I think Israel wants it that way. The American people want it that way. And when it becomes injected or infused with politics, that's a problem."

Obama and aides have been highly critical of the decision by House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to invite Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress.

The speech is scheduled for Tuesday, and Netanyahu is expected to object to the Obama administration's negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program. The Israeli prime minister says Iran cannot be trusted to agree not to seek nuclear weapons.

"I will go to Washington to address the American Congress, because the American Congress is likely to be the final brake before the agreement between the major powers and Iran," Netanyahu said this week.

The White House, which has long had a contentious relationship with Netanyahu, has registered its displeasure with his planned speech in several ways.

For one thing, Obama has not scheduled a meeting with Netanyahu while he is in Washington. Officials said the visit comes too close to the Israeli elections, and the president does not want to be seen as meddling in another country's political contest.

Vice President Biden, who in his role as president of the Senate would normally attend a congressional speech by a foreign leader, will be out of town next week.

The administration has also declined to commit to sending a representative to next week's meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which Netanyahu is also addressing.

In the interview with PBS, Rice said she would not "ascribe motives" to the Israeli prime minister.

"We want the relationship between the United States and Israel to be unquestionably strong, immutable, regardless of political seasons in either country, regardless of which party may be in charge in either country," Rice said. "We've worked very hard to have that, and we will work very hard to maintain that."