House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi blasted Speaker John Boehner's invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress, calling it arrogant "hubris" and "out of the ordinary."
Netanyahu confirmed on Thursday that he would speak to the Congress in March, saying in a statement that Boehner's invite was bipartisan. But the move blindsided the Obama administration and came as a shock to House Democrats,
according to The Washington Post.
Pelosi, a California representative, said she was troubled by the scheduling of the sudden surprise arrangement, which will occur on March 3 shortly before elections in Israel. "It's hubris to say 'I rule, I'll decide,' without any sensitivity to the upcoming Israeli elections," said Pelosi.
Boehner announced on Wednesday that he had invited Netanyahu to speak less than a day after President Barack Obama called on Republicans during his State of the Union Address not to try to impose new
sanctions on Iran.
The invite for the Israeli leader to talk about the dangers posed by Iran's nuclear ambitions was seen as a rebuke or retaliation by the speaker to Obama's confrontational comments.
Although most Republicans agree with Netanyahu that tougher sanctions should be conducted against Iran to prevent them developing nuclear weapons, the White House has advised that they would set back ongoing talks for restrictions on the Middle East country's nuclear program.
Saying that the State of the Union speech, including Obama's remarks on Iran, were "a blueprint for success," Pelosi added, "we cannot have (the negotiations) fail because Congress wants to flex its muscle unnecessarily."