White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said that US Vice President Joe Biden had not yet scheduled to be present at the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to the US Congress about Iran’s nuclear program and the threat posed by jihadist terrorists.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US Vice President Joe Biden is not yet scheduled to be present at the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to both chambers of US Congress amid controversy behind his visit, White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said.
“We will see, that is the best answer I can give you there, we are still working through exactly what the vice president’s schedule is going to look like that first week in March,” Earnest said on Wednesday in response to a question about whether Biden will skip Netanyahu’s speech.

US House Speaker John Boehner invited Netanyahu to speak in Congress about Iran’s nuclear program and the threat posed by jihadist terrorists.
The White House has earlier described Boehner’s invitation and Israeli acceptance of it as “a departure from protocol.”
Earnest stressed, however, that the US-Israeli relationship is much more important than the relationship between the Democratic and Republican parties.

Presiding over joint sessions of Congress is part of the vice president’s ceremonial duties. In his capacity as vice president, Biden has missed only one congressional joint session in 2011, because he was travelling abroad.

By Sputnik News

 
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