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There seems to be a growing movement on the part of some groups topersuade Democratic members of Congress to skip the speech that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be giving to a Joint Session of Congress early next month:

Vice President Joe Biden wont commit to attending Benjamin Netanyahus speech to a joint meeting of Congress next month.

Hes not the only one.

Dozens of House Democrats are privately threatening to skip the March 3 address, according to lawmakers and aides, in whats become the lowest point of a relationship between the Israeli prime minister and President Barack Obama thats never been good.

Democrats have had to balance publicly supporting Israel with backing Obama, whos trying to close a deal with Iran to curb its nuclear programs over vehement opposition from Netanyahu, who has expressed concerns that the U.S. president is being naive. Negotiations are facing a deadline at the end of March for a political framework.

The speech was devised by House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer to provide Netanyahu a prominent Washington platform to warn about the dangers of the proposed deal with Iran. But it also appeared to be based on an Israeli perception that Obama was weakened after midterm elections gave control of both houses of Congress to Republicans, and timed to take place just two weeks before Netanyahu faces reelection on March 17 and footage of American officials applauding him couldnt hurt his prospects.

But that reading of Obama seems not to have been updated since November, when Obamas own poll numbers started moving up again, and hough Netanyahus Likud Party is still leading in Israeli polls miscalculated the backlash in Israel from putting his relationship with the American president on the line.

Netanyahus already been denied an Oval Office meeting with Obama. Secretary of State John Kerry has no plans to meet with him while hes in town, a State Department official told POLITICO on Tuesday.

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The president and his aides wont tell Democrats to skip the speech. But they arent telling Democrats to go, either.

See the article here:
Why Democrats may boycott of Netanyahu speech to Congress