Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted an invitation by Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner (R-OH), to address a joint session of Congress on Mar. 3 to discuss the threat posed to Israel by Iran and radical Islam. The move came as Congress debated imposing increased sanctions on Iran if the U.S.-led coalition of Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia (also referred to as P5+1) fails to achieve a nuclear agreement with Iran by the end of June.

Netanyahu opposes efforts by the coalition to deal with Iran over its nuclear development program, as well as Obama’s peace talks with Palestinians and, according to the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, Israelis feel the perceived deterioration in relations with America and the prospect of a nuclear Iran, “are the two most serious threats, almost equal in severity.”

President Obama will not meet with the Prime Minister when he is in the United States telling CNN, “I’m declining to meet with him, simply because our general policy is we don’t meet with any world leader two weeks before their election. I think that’s inappropriate.” The Israeli election will be held on Mar. 17.

British Prime Minister, David Cameron, who is facing re-election on May 7, was in Washington in mid-January to hold a joint press conference with President Obama urging Congress to delay imposing additional sanctions on Iran pending the June deadline. At the time, Cameron told the press he had called several members of Congress telling them that sanctions, “would fracture the international unity which has been so valuable in presenting a united front to Iran.”

The White House bristled at the Speaker’s invitation calling it a “breach of protocol,” and although Secretary of State John Kerry said that Netanyahu is welcome to give a speech in the U.S. at “any time,” he added that “it was a little little unusual” to hear the announcement coming from Boehner’s office. Speaker Boehner denied that the invitation was made with political motivation, saying, “The House of Representatives is a equal branch of the government, and we have a right to do it.”

Boehner said the president “glossed over the issue of terrorism and the Islamic State” at the annual State of the Union address to Congress on Jan. 20. The Speaker noted Prime Minister Netanyahu’s unique position to “talk about the threat of radical terrorism…  talk about the threat that the Iranians pose, not just to the Middle East and to Israel, our longest ally, but to the entire world.”

House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), said it was “inappropriate” that the invitation was issued without consultation with the White House and revealed that she had spoken to Netanyahu to “warn him that the speech could send the wrong message.”

On Sunday, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough told CNN’s State of the Union program,”This is the most important relationship we have in the world… that ought to be and will continue to be, as far as we are concerned, above partisan politics.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu has not been immune from criticism at home for accepting Boehner’s invitation. A former intelligence chief who has advised Netanyahu in the past has called the action “irresponsible,” and a former Israeli ambassador to the United States has publicly asked the Prime Minister to withdraw his acceptance. Netanyahu last spoke to Congress in May 2011 at the invitation of the White House and the State Department when he was warmly received and his 40-minute speech was interrupted with 29 standing ovations from both sides of the aisle.