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A day after President Barack Obama addressed a joint session of Congress with the State of the Union address, House Speaker John Boehner is inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak before the same group of lawmakers next month. In a letter to Netanyahu dated Wednesday, Boehner invited the Israeli leader to address the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate on February 11. It would be the prime minister’s third appearance before Congress. “Prime Minister Netanyahu is a great friend of our country, and this invitation carries with it our unwavering commitment to the security and well-being of...

House Speaker John Boehner has issued an invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak to a joint session of Congress on February 11th concerning Iran. Boehner issued the invitation in response to President Obama's threat to veto further sanctions against Iran.

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE — The White House says House Speaker John Boehner's invitation for Israel's prime minister to come to Washington is a breach of normal diplomatic protocol. President Barack Obama's press secretary, Josh Earnest, says the White House has not heard from Israelis about whether Benjamin Netanyahu plans to speak to Congress Feb. 11. Earnest says they are reserving judgment about the invitation until they've had a chance to speak to the Israelis about what Netanyahu might say.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest reacted to the news that House Speaker John Boehner had invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak to a joint session of Congress, calling it a “departure from protocol.” “The typical protocol would suggest that the leader of a country would contact the leader of another country when he is traveling there and that’s certainly is how President Obama’s trips are planned when we travel overseas,” he said. “This particular event seems to be a departure from that protocol.” Netanyahu’s visit was announced earlier this morning after Obama’s State of the Union address....

Rebuffing President Barack Obama on Iran, House Speaker John Boehner said Wednesday he had invited Israel's prime minister to address a joint meeting of Congress next month about the threats from Tehran and radical Islam. The Republican leader released a letter extending the invitation to Benjamin Netanyahu for Feb. 11. Boehner also told a private meeting of GOP lawmakers that Congress would proceed on new penalties against Iran despite Obama's warning that any legislation would scuttle diplomatic negotiations over the country's nuclear program. "You may have seen that on Friday, the president warned us not to move ahead with sanctions...

Last night, Barack Obama threatened to veto any new sanctions on Iran that the newly-Republican majority might pass as a way to pressure Tehran to stop its nuclear program. Obama lectured Congress on his successes in “halt[ing] the progress of its nuclear program and reduc[ing] its stockpile of nuclear material,” and warned that Congressional action would isolate the US from its allies: There are no guarantees that negotiations will succeed, and I keep all options on the table to prevent a nuclear Iran. But new sanctions passed by this Congress, at this moment in time, will all but guarantee that...

+ (Win McNamee/Getty Images)) January 21, 2015 President Obama warned Congress Tuesday night that he would veto any new sanctions legislation on Iran, saying it would derail U.S. negotiations in the Middle East. But John Boehner isn't ready to sit out the battle over Iran's nuclear program. "[Obama's] exact message to us was: 'Hold your fire.' He expects us to stand idly by and do nothing while he cuts a bad deal with Iran. Two words: 'Hell no!'" the House speaker said during his weekly press briefing on Wednesday. "We're going to do no such thing."