There is precedent for inviting leaders to Washington D.C. before their elections, contrary to claims from the White House.
The Obama administration scoffed at Speaker John Boehner’s invitation to speak to a joint session of Congress the first week of March. The White House publicly expressed its displeasure with the move.
The Obama administration then planned convenient excuses to send out all the major members of Obama’s cabinet. The White House said the reason Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Secretary of State John Kerry will skip the speech, is that it broke protocol and that Netanyahu was too close to his election to be welcomed by the White House. A number of Democrats have also said they will pass on Netanyahu.
In 1996, the Clinton Administration hosted Netanyahu’s political opponent, Shimon Perez.
"Democratic presidents have always loathed Benjamin Netanyahu," Joe Scarborough said on Morning Joe Tuesday.