New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind says his fellow Democrats in Washington, D.C., should not skip an upcoming speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu because Israel's very survival is in jeopardy.
Democrats have threatened to boycott the March address to a joint session of Congress where Netanyahu plans to talk about the threat of a nuclear Iran as Congress prepares to consider new sanctions against the country that has vowed to wipe Israel off the map.
"I wish Israel was treated sometimes like we treat Iran. We are so careful about what we say and how we behave towards them," Hikind said Thursday on Fox News Channel's
"Your World with Neil Cavuto."
Netanyahu was invited by Republican House Speaker John Boehner without consulting the White House, and President Barack Obama has said he will not meet with the prime minister when he visits.
The administration is known to have a bad relationship with Netanyahu, and Hikind noted that unnamed sources in the White House have insulted the prime minister and his administration.
At the same time, the Middle East is spiraling out of control with the Islamic State (ISIS) controlling large parts of Iraq and Syria and with Iran getting closer to having nuclear weapons.
"And there is a lack of leadership coming from the greatest country in the world, America," he said. "Without leadership we endanger our friends."