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Source: http://www.speaker.gov/general/background-invitation-prime-minister-netanyahu
Background on Invitation to Prime Minister Netanyahu
(Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives) Rep. John Boehner - Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted Speaker Boehner's invitation to address a joint meeting of Congress. A handful of media reports have claimed that the Israelis "orchestrated" the invitation. This is flat-out wrong. As Speaker Boehner has said, the Congress is a separate and co-equal branch of government. It was the Speaker's right to invite the Prime Minister of Israel, and he did so, so the Prime Minister could speak about one of the most important issues facing the Middle East and the world - the stakes regarding Iran. The process was a coordinated effort between Speaker Boehner's office and Senate Majority Leader McConnell's office. Discussions began on the staff level late last year. On Jan. 20, we informed Israeli Ambassador Dermer of our intent to issue the invitation and our intent to notify the administration of the invitation. On Jan. 21, after notifying the administration, the Speaker issued the invitation to the Prime Minister and announced it to the public. "In this time of challenge, I am asking the Prime Minister to address Congress on the grave threats radical Islam and Iran pose to our security and way of life."