WASHINGTON (AP) – A top Obama administration official declared Monday that the relationship between the United States and Israel “should never be politicized,” while defending President Barack Obama’s high-stakes bid for a nuclear deal with Iran.
U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power’s address came amid heightened tensions between the long-time allies, sparked by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to address Congress at the invitation of Republican leaders. The White House has blasted the move as a breach of diplomatic protocol.
Power insisted that the strain surrounding the speech obscures the broader security ties between the U.S. and Israel and their shared commitment to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“Israel’s security and the U.S.-Israel partnership transcend politics and it always will,” Power said at the annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the largest pro-Israel lobby in the U.S.
Netanyahu was to address the gathering Monday morning. Susan Rice, Obama’s national security adviser, was also scheduled to speak Monday night and discuss the ongoing U.S.-led Iranian nuclear negotiations.