Chuck Schumer on the time Binyamin Netanyahu ruined dinner party with $1,800 Pepsi spill

Sen. Chuck Schumer gave a perverse welcome to Binyamin Netanyahu at the AIPAC conference Monday night by telling 8,000 pro-Israel activists (and folks watching on C-SPAN) about the time the prime minister ruined a dinner party.

"Let me tell you a little story about Bibi," the NY Dem began. "It shows his passion!"

Seems that in the late '80s, when Netanyahu was the Israeli ambassador, the then-congressman invited him to Shabbat dinner. ("An incredible spread," Schumer recalled. "Pastrami, corned beef, knishes, chopped liver, rugelach ....." )

A guest asked the diplomat to explain price controls on the Israeli economy. Schumer said that Netanyahu picked up a two-liter bottle of Pepsi, put his thumb over the mouth, and shook it, hard. The economy, he explained, is like that bottle: It looks stable, but if you take your thumb out...

"The bottle exploded everywhere," Schumer said. "Two liters of Pepsi, on the ceiling, on all our guests... Our drapes were soaked... It cost us $1,800 to clean up the mess. $1,800! So Bibi, as my wife is always reminding me, you owe us $1,800. We'll accept personal checks or shekels."

Um, true? In his speech, the PM did not address crazy times at Chuck's house. A rep for the embassy said they would "defer to the senator's recollection."