Don’t Politicize Diplomacy

Last Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a speech in front of a joint session of Congress after receiving an invitation from Speaker of the House John Boehner without the knowledge or subsequent approval of President Obama. Irrespective of the content of the speech, Boehner should not have invited Netanyahu to speak in front of Congress without the President’s consent. The United States government must speak with a unified voice on foreign policy. In the face of consistent policy disagreements between Netanyahu and Obama, the decision to invite Netanyahu is inexcusable.

National security issues are far too important to be subject to the childish bickering that has become the norm in today’s politics. While members of Congress should always question and challenge foreign policy decisions with which they disagree, the conduct of diplomacy between the United States and other nations—especially allies—should never become a political tool. Republicans are guilty of politicizing Netanyahu’s speech, but this issue transcends party lines. Such attempts to score political points by using foreign heads of state or heads of government are detrimental to the ability of the United States to conduct a unified foreign policy.

Further complicating the decision to invite Netanyahu are the upcoming Israeli elections. The legislative branch has little place inserting itself so brashly into the internal politics of an ally and a fellow democracy. President Obama was right to stick with the White House policy of not meeting with foreign leaders facing election, and Speaker Boehner should have considered the implications of the speech in Israel before issuing his invitation.

More disturbing than its effects in Israel, however, are the domestic political rifts exposed by the speech. 58 congressional Democrats skipped Netanyahu’s remarks to show their opposition to Boehner’s invitation, and Vice President Joe Biden also declined to attend. After the speech, Obama strongly criticized both the invitation and the substance of Netanyahu’s argument against a nuclear deal with Iran. In short, the United States government’s diplomatic position—already subject to appropriate democratic deliberation—appeared far more disunited than it ever should.

This result was eminently avoidable. While Congress should maintain a critical posture in evaluating the foreign policy of any administration, that criticism must never rise to the level of intervening between the executive and representatives of foreign governments. Ultimately, the United States must be able to appear united in the conduct of diplomatic relations; incidents like Netanyahu’s speech only serve to undermine that imperative and harm America’s global standing.