But it appears the Obama administration’s irritation with Netanyahu’s congressional gambit has hit the breaking point. On Tuesday, Obama’s national security adviser, Susan Rice, was blunt about how Netanyahu’s speech will hurt U.S.-Israeli ties: “It’s destructive of the fabric of the relationship.”

A few days earlier, Josh Earnest, the White House spokesman, said that Israel, in its criticism of the Iranian negotiations, has been “cherry-picking specific pieces of information and using them out of context to distort the negotiating position of the U.S.”

This approach is vintage Netanyahu. Over the years, he has consistently lied about the Iranian threat. Never has he mentioned that the only country in the Middle East with nuclear weapons is the State of Israel — not Iran.

We should be thankful that while this farce unfolds in Congress serious negotiators representing six of the world’s leading powers will be hard at work in Geneva trying to come up with a historic breakthrough. Like Richard Nixon’s dramatic overture to China in 1972, this may eventually be regarded as Obama’s greatest achievement ..

– Read more: Netanyahu, His Pants on Fire, Brings Torch to Washington – Tony Burman, The Star