[...] a foreign leader denouncing U.S. policy from within the grand hall of American democracy upends nearly two centuries of tradition. A joint meeting of Congress, gathering senators and representatives together in the House chamber, is a ceremony typically bestowed on one or two friendly foreign leaders per year. In a preview of his speech to Congress, Netanyahu told a pro-Israel conference in Washington Monday that he has a moral duty to warn that President Barack Obama's nuclear negotiations with Iran may imperil Israel. Republican House Speaker John Boehner, who broke protocol by inviting Netanyahu without consulting the Democratic White House, says Americans need to hear their trusted ally's fears. The Obama administration says the invitation has injected destructive partisanship into U.S.-Israel relations. The tradition of inviting foreign dignitaries dates to the Marquis de Lafayette, the French hero of the American Revolution, who gave separate speeches to the House and Senate in 1824. Since World War II, these joint meetings — similar to the "joint sessions" that hear U.S.