Pelosi: Invite to Netanyahu inappropriate

The leader of the House Democrats says that Republican Speaker John Boehner blundered when he invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress amid sensitive negotiations about Iran’s nuclear program and in the shadow of Israel’s elections.

“If that’s the purpose of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit two weeks before his own election, right in the midst of our negotiations, I just don’t think it’s appropriate and helpful,” Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., tells reporters Thursday at her weekly press conference. The March 3 speech, Pelosi suggests, could give Netanyahu a political boost in elections a few weeks later and inflame international talks aimed at stopping Iran’s nuclear program.

“These negotiations have gone on for a long time,” Pelosi adds. “They’re delicate.”

— AP