Isaac Herzog, leader of Israel's Labor Party. Photo: Wiki Commons.

JNS.org – Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz (Likud) said Labor party leader Isaac Herzog “crossed all the lines” by using the platform of the Munich Security Security Conference to criticize Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming speech before Congress.

Herzog said at the conference on Saturday that Netanyahu should cancel the March 3 speech “for the sake of Israel’s security.”

“My talks with leaders from Europe and the U.S. indicated they were furious that Netanyahu had diverted the debate on a nuclear Iran for political purposes and made it into a confrontation with [U.S. President Barack] Obama,” Herzog said.

Herzog also met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Vice President Joe Biden, in the wake of Biden’s announcement that the would skip Netanyahu’s Congress address.

“What opposition leader Herzog did crossed all the lines and damaged the accepted rule of not attacking the government abroad,” said Steinitz, who was also at the Munich conference.

Member of Knesset Miri Regev (Likud) said, “[Herzog] is being exploited by the international community. He’s cooperating with them against Israel and putting the security of the state at risk.”

While Kerry and Biden met with Herzog in Munich, the White House has said Obama will not meet with Netanyahu next month due to his visit’s close proximity to Israel’s March 17 elections, in which Herzog is seeking to unseat Netanyahu.