In a bold move, Speaker of the House John Boehner this week invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress in March. In response, the White House has expressed annoyance, saying it was not consulted over the decision. But it is the prerogative of Congress to invite whomever it likes to address it, and the speaker was right to dismiss criticism from the executive branch over matters of protocol.

It is easy to see why the Obama administration is nervous about Netanyahu’s forthcoming visit to Washington. The Israeli leader has been a forthright critic of President Obama’s weak-kneed approach towards Tehran, and will be sending a very different message about Iran’s nuclear program. Next month, we can expect to hear a clarion call to Congress to strengthen its sanctions against Iran, and a warning against the temptations of appeasement. The Israeli prime minister will undoubtedly lay down the gauntlet to the White House, urging it to stand up to Iran’s nuclear program, not only for the security of the Middle East, but for the defense of the United States as well.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s presence will send a powerful message to the Obama presidency that it must not be fooled by the entreaties of the mullahs in Tehran, whose goal is the lifting of damaging Western economic sanctions. It will be a message that will resonate with members of Congress on both sides of the political aisle, deeply concerned by Obama’s reckless threat to veto a new sanctions bill.

It is highly encouraging to see Congress standing with the people of Israel, and providing a platform at the heart of the world’s superpower to the Israeli prime minister. The United States must stand with a close friend who faces a vicious enemy in Tehran, a brutal Islamist regime with every intention of building a nuclear weapons capability, and wiping its near neighbor off the map. Alliances matter, and the United States has no greater partner in the Middle East than Israel, a nation that fights for its very survival.