Live UpdateFrom the Liveblog of Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Virginia senator to skip PM’s speech

25 February 2015, 8:47 pm 0 Edit

Roll Call reports that Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia will also stay away from Netanyahu’s Iran speech to Congress.

“As a long-time supporter of the US-Israel relationship, I believe the timing of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s address to Congress — just days before Israeli elections — is highly inappropriate. On January 30, I delivered a letter to Speaker Boehner asking that the speech to Congress be postponed so that there was no appearance of US favoritism in a foreign election.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, meets with Senators Angus King, right, and Tim Kaine, on Sunday in Jerusalem (photo credit: Amb. Dan Shapiro/Facebook)

“There is no reason to schedule this speech before Israeli voters go to the polls on March 17 and choose their own leadership. I am disappointed that, as of now, the speech has not been postponed. For this reason, I will not attend the speech.”