Washington - The Republican leader of the US House of Representatives is defending the invitation to the Israeli prime minister to speak to Congress about Iran.
Speaker John Boehner also is rejecting criticism from National Security Adviser Susan Rice that the speech is "destructive" to US-Israel relations.
Boehner told reporters on Thursday he disagrees with Rice. He says a "bad deal" with Iran on its nuclear programme would be destructive, and the American people need to hear from Benjamin Netanyahu.