Obama's national security adviser calls Netanyahu's planned U.S. visit 'destructive'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

(Image credit: Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images)

published 25 February 2015

In an interview on PBS's Charlie Rose, Susan Rice, President Obama's national security adviser, said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned U.S. visit next week has "injected a degree of partisanship, which is not only unfortunate, I think it's destructive of the fabric of the relationship" between Israel and the U.S.

Netanyahu plans to address a joint meeting of Congress, two weeks before Israeli elections. He accepted an invitation from House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to speak against a nuclear deal with Iran, but the visit was not coordinated with the White House, which the administration sees as a breach of protocol. Obama has said he will not meet with Netanyahu during the visit.

The New York Times notes that Rice's comments are "the strongest public rebuke" to Netanyahu's visit from the Obama administration. Netanyahu's speech is scheduled for March 3. Watch Rice's comments below. —Meghan DeMaria