U.S. House Speaker John Boehner
U.S. House Speaker John BoehnerReuters

Asked about the way he circumvented the White House in inviting Binyamin Netanyahu to address Congress, House Speaker John Boehner told CBS's 60 Minutes: “I gave 'em a heads up that morning. But there's nobody in the world who can talk about the threat of radical terrorism, nobody can 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, but Bibi Netanyahu.”

Boehner affirmed his support for new sanctions on Iran and predicted that the House would approve additional punishments on Iran if it doesn't cease its nuclear program.

Army Radio quotes unnamed official sources in Jerusalem who said that Netanyahu does, indeed, seek to influence Congress directly on the Iranian issue in his upcoming speech before the Senate and House.

The report says that the sources confirmed that the goals of Netanyahu's speech include “going behind Obama's back” and bring about a deepening of sanctions against Iran, but it is not clear if the words are a quote from the sources or a rephrasing by the reporter.

"The US is leading an approach in which the Iranians are the solution and not the root of the problem,” the sources reportedly explained. The US is “betting on the Iranians at the expense of the moderate Sunni states,” the sources said, and called this “a serious strategic mistake.”

The sources compared the US approach to a situation in which “the Iranians break the glass, and are then called in as the glaziers.”

A source quoted in the report quoted Republican and Democratic senators who came to Israel to be briefed on the Iranian threat, asked Israel to “save us from our own mistakes.”

This situation, they said, is what led to the decision to address Congress, and try to influence voting there on additional Iranian sanctions.

Obama, Kerry won't meet Netanyahu

The White House said Thursday evening that President Barack Obama will not meet Netanyahu when the Israeli leader visits Washington in early March.

The decision, said the White House, is in line with US policy not to meet foreign leaders on dates that are close to national elections in their countries.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has also released a statement in which he said that he will not be meeting with Netanyahu during his March visit.