[Peace-discuss] AP: Lewis, Butterfield to boycott Bibi's speech

[Robert Naiman]

http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/boycott-bibis-bluster?source=c.url&r_by=1135580

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2 House Democrats to Skip Netanyahu Speech

WASHINGTON — Feb 5, 2015, 1:01 PM ET

By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/house-democrats-skip-netanyahu-speech-28750239



Two prominent House Democrats said Thursday they will skip Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress next month, saying they disapprove
of House Speaker John Boehner's decision to invite the Israeli leader
without consulting the White House
<http://abcnews.go.com/topics/news/us/white-house.htm>.

Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, a hero of the civil rights movement, and Rep.
G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina, chairman of the Congressional Black
Caucus, said they won't attend Netanyahu's March 3 speech.

"I think it's an affront to the president and the State Department
<http://abcnews.go.com/topics/news/us/state-department.htm> what the
speaker did," by not consulting the White House, Lewis said in an interview.

Butterfield said he was "very disappointed that the speaker would cause
such a ruckus" among members of Congress. He called the speaker's actions
"unprecedented."

Butterfield also criticized Netanyahu, saying that by accepting Boehner's
invitation without talking to President Barack Obama, the prime minister
had "politicized" his visit to the United States.

Netanyahu's speech is expected to focus largely on Iran — and its nuclear
program — amid delicate negotiations involving the United States, other
Western powers and Tehran. Netanyahu's acceptance of Boehner's invitation
has infuriated the White House and many congressional Democrats.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi
<http://abcnews.go.com/topics/news/us/nancy-pelosi.htm> said she plans to
attend the speech.

"It is really sad that it has come to this," Pelosi said Thursday, adding
that "as of now, it is my intention to go."

Butterfield and Lewis both said their decisions to skip the speech were
personal and were not part of an organized boycott.

"I can emphatically say it is not an organized effort," Butterfield said,
adding: "The only thing I can control is my attendance."

Despite his disappointment, Butterfield said he expected the flap over
Netanyahu's speech to blow over fairly quickly and have no long-term effect
on Israeli-U.S. relations.
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