Netanyahu declines to meet with Democrats

Israel's prime minister regrets the politically fraught tone of his visit

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu turned down an invitation on Tuesday to meet privately with Senate Democrats next week during his visit to Washington, saying the session "could compound the misperception of partisanship" surrounding his trip.

Angering the White House and Democrats, Netanyahu accepted an invitation from Republican leaders to address a joint meeting of Congress on March 3 and speak about Iran. The Republican leaders did not consult with the Obama administration, which the White House called a breach of protocol.

Democratic Senators Dick Durbin and Dianne Feinstein invited Netanyahu on Monday to meet in a closed-door session with Democrats during his visit. He declined the invitation on Tuesday and expressed regret about the politically fraught tone of his trip.

"I regret that the invitation to address the special joint session of Congress has been perceived by some to be political or partisan," Netanyahu said. "I can assure you that my sole intention in accepting it was to voice Israel's grave concerns about a potential nuclear agreement with Iran that could threaten the survival of my country."

Netanyahu said to meet with Democrats "at this time could compound the misperception of partisanship regarding my upcoming visit".

More than a half dozen House and Senate Democrats have said they will skip the speech, calling it an affront to US President Barack Obama and the administration as they engage in high-level negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program. US Vice-President Joe Biden will be traveling and has no plans to attend the speech.

Obama has no plans to meet with Netanyahu, with the administration saying such a session would break with past practices of engaging with world leaders close to elections. Israel's elections are set for March 17.

Durbin said in a statement that he regretted Netanyahu could not meet with the Democrats.

"We offered the prime minister an opportunity to balance the politically divisive invitation from Speaker John Boehner with a private meeting with Democrats who are committed to keeping the bipartisan support of Israel strong," Durbin said.

"His refusal to meet is disappointing to those of us who have stood by Israel for decades."

Iran negotiations

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry told wary lawmakers on Tuesday it was premature to criticize nuclear negotiations with Iran before any deal can be reached to keep Teheran from developing atomic weapons.

"The president has made clear - I can't state this more firmly - the policy is Iran will not get a nuclear weapon," Kerry said. "And anybody running around right now, jumping in to say, 'Well, we don't like the deal,' or this or that, doesn't know what the deal is. There is no deal yet. And I caution people to wait and see what these negotiations produce."

Kerry testified in US Congress after returning to Washington from the latest round of talks in Geneva involving Iran, the US and five other world powers. US and Iranian officials reported progress on getting to a deal that would clamp down on Teheran's nuclear activities for at least 10 years but then slowly ease restrictions.

Negotiators are rushing to try to meet a March 31 deadline for a framework agreement.

AP - Reuters