Kerry calls Netanyahu invitation to US without Obama consultation ‘odd’

US Secretary of State John Kerry has expressed the Obama administration’s dissatisfaction with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to address Congress about Iran.

“Obviously, it was odd, if not unique, that we learned of it from the Speaker of the House and an administration was not included in this process,” he said in an interview with ABC News on Sunday.

“We are not – you know, we don’t want to see this turned into some great political football,” he added.

House Speaker John Boehner invited Netanyahu to address Congress on March 3 without consulting President Barack Obama.

Netanyahu, who has repeatedly said that he is opposed to talks with Iran, is expected to use the speech against a possible nuclear deal.

The invitation sparked outrage among some American officials since the US and Iran are in the middle of crucial nuclear negotiations to reach a final agreement.

Kerry once again reiterated the importance of the nuclear talks.

"It is better to do this by diplomacy than to have to do a strategy militarily which you would have to repeat over and over again and which everybody believes ought to be after you have exhausted all the diplomatic remedies," he said.

The top US diplomat also added that he would not promise a deal, but all participating sides are working to reach it.

"Our hope is diplomacy can work ... Given our success on the interim agreement, I believe we deserve the benefit of the doubt to find out whether or not we can get a similarly good agreement with respect to the future," Kerry said.

The White House announced that President Obama would not meet with Netanyahu during his trip.

Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein has described Netanyahu as "arrogant" over his decision to address Congress.

"He doesn't speak for me on this," the Jewish lawmaker told CNN on Sunday. "He doesn't at all speak for me."

On Saturday, Netanyahu once again defended his plan, saying that he is “strongly opposed to the agreement being formulated between the world powers and Iran.”

Feinstein disagreed with Netanyahu’s statement.

"I think it's a rather arrogant statement. I think the Jewish community is like any other community. There are different points of view," the senator said. "I think that arrogance does not befit Israel."

Many Democrats have decided to boycott the controversial speech.

Democratic Representatives James Clyburn of South Carolina, Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, John Lewis of Georgia, G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina, and Steve Cohen of Tennessee are among them.

Obama’s National Security Adviser Susan Rice said the speech has “injected a degree of partisanship, which is not only unfortunate, I think it’s destructive of the fabric of the relationship.”

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