WASHINGTON – Lawmakers from the Philadelphia area gave a generally warm reception Tuesday to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress – though some Democrats were still angered by the way it came about.
Rep. Brendan Boyle (D., Pa.), – who shook Netanyahu's hand as he entered the House chamber, and whose district includes Cheltenham, where the Israeli leader went to high school – said he entered the speech skeptical about international negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, and found his view reinforced.
"I'm deeply concerned with what I'm hearing coming out of the," talks, said Boyle, a member of the House foreign affairs committee. As it has been outlined, "I would find that sort of a deal unacceptable."
Rep. Charlie Dent (R., Pa.) heard "a clarion call to all of us" about the threat of a nuclear Iran.
"I've always felt that it was appropriate to engage in negotiations, to test (Iranian President Hassan) Rouhani, but it's clear that his actions will never match his rhetoric," Dent said. "No deal is better than a bad deal. Looks like we're simply going to have to ratchet up the sanctions."
But some Democrats were angered that Netanyahu made an end run around the White House, coming at the invitation of House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio).
Rep. Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.) skipped the event, though he said he watched from his office while also attending to other meetings.
"Until there's an agreement that can be considered, enough words probably have been spoken," Fattah said. He agreed with comments from Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.) that the arrangement of the event was an "affront" to the president.
"Foreign policy's not really been an arena in which we've played partisan politics," Fattah said, "so we've crossed a new Rubicon."
More than 50 Democrats were reported to have skipped the speech, many of them either Jewish or African-American. Some who did attend sat in silence through some of Netanyahu's applause lines.
While Netanyahu warned of a "bad deal" looming, Booker said it was too soon to judge.
"He's criticizing a deal before there's even been a deal," Booker said. "I don't agree with criticizing something before we even know what it is."
He added that "American support of Israel should never be made into a partisan issue."
"I have a lot of criticism for how (Boehner) handled this and feel not the president was disrespected, the office of the presidency was disrespected," Booker said.
Other Democrats warmed to Netanyahu's opening words, in which he praised Obama for supporting Israel and stressed that both parties have long supported his country.
"He addressed it head on," said Sen. Robert Menendez (D., N.J.), one of Israel's most vocal supporters. "If you have a history in which your people have been sought to be annihilated, then you understand the framework of any leader of Israel as it relates to an existential threat to them."
Menendez, who has been critical of the Iran talks and pushed for added sanctions, said he will hold to his pledge to delay any push for new penalties until after a March 24 deadline for reaching a framework of a deal with Iran. If there is a deal then, he said, he will evaluate it, and if not, he said, he would push for new sanctions.
But Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the talks began with a framework "that wasn't in our best interests" because it largely accepts Iran's nuclear infrastructure "and what we're getting is an alarm system at the end of the day. Well, that's a high price to pay for the risk."
Rep. Donald Norcross (D., N.J.), said Netanyahu handled the partisan concerns "with dignity," and while waiting to see the details of any deal said he saw as "my job to be here" when a foreign leader speaks to Congress.
Similarly, Rep. Pat Meehan (R., Pa.) called Netanyahu's opening "graceful."
"This is really more a disagreement about policy related to the Iran nuclear deal and less one about questioning a long term commitment of the Congress or the president to Israel," Meehan said.
Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) was critical of Obama after the speech, and called for further sanctions on Iran.
Obama has opposed new penalties, saying they could undercut negotiations and prevent a deal that the White House says is aimed at avoiding an armed conflict and still preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Critics say Iran can't be trusted and the talks will fail.
"I have long said the Obama administration has been much too weak on Iran, endangering our country and the security of the world," Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) said in a news release calling for tougher sanctions. "I am very concerned that a bad deal with Iran is in the works."
Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.) said in a release that support for Israel has always been bipartisan, and he hoped that "small objections to protocol or politics be moved to the side in favor of the larger objective of a safe Israel and a stable region."
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