McConnell knocks Obama ahead of Netanyahu speech
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday slammed President Obama’s foreign policy ahead of a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Israeli official will speak before a joint meeting of Congress, where he is expected to be highly critical of ongoing talks with Iran over its nuclear program.
{mosads}The speech has gained controversy after House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) invited Netanyahu to speak without first notifying Obama.
More than fifty Democrats have vowed to skip the speech. Though neither Obama nor Secretary of State John Kerry will meet with Netanyahu while he’s in Washington, McConnell said Tuesday that he hopes the administration will be watching.
“I hope the Obama administration will be listening too, because this visit isn’t about personalities,” the Kentucky Republican said from the Senate floor.
McConnell said that the speech comes at a “critical moment” in Israel-U.S. relations, as the administration takes part in talks on Iran’s nuclear program.
The Kentucky Republican suggested that the talks, and what he see as the potential for a bad deal, represent the latest misstep by Obama on foreign policy.
“The politics above policy approach mystifies allies like Israel,” McConnell said.
He added that he believes Obama’s foreign policy focuses “fulfilling political campaign promises… and pursuing politically expedient solutions to whatever stands in the way of the first objective.”
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