White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough evaded a question today on whether he agreed with an unnamed senior American official who told the Haaretz newspaper that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “spat in our face” by accepting an invitation to speak before Congress from House Speaker John Boehner.
The official, quoted in the Israeli newspaper, also threatened that “there will be a price” if Netanyahu does speak.
McDonough, answering a question from host Chuck Todd on NBC’s Meet the Press, said that while he couldn’t guarantee the source wasn’t part of the Obama administration, “it’s not me, it’s not the president, it’s not what we believe.”
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He said that the administration was dedicated to staying out of the “internal politics” within our “closest allies,” pointing out that British Prime Minister David Cameron visited the White House “a full four months before their election.”
Netanyahu is up for reelection in Israel on March 17.
McDonough called America’s relationship with Israel “many faceted, deep and abiding,” based not only on shared threats, but shared values.
McDonough declined to say if he thought Netanyahu should cancel his appearance before Congress.
Netanyahu will speak before Congress about Iran in March.
President Obama has said he will not meet with Netanyahu during the trip.
