Netanyahu Goes Nuclear Before U.S. Congress
Photo Credit: APBy Garth Kant. The deal President Obama is about to offer “doesn’t block Iran’s path to the bomb, it paves its path to the bomb,” declared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to one of many thunderous standing ovations Tuesday morning before a joint session of the U.S. Congress.
He delivered a forceful argument lasting 40 minutes [read the full transcript of the speech HERE and see the video below] against the agreement the Obama administration is striking with Iran over its nuclear program, insisting it has two major flaws:
It leaves Iran with a vast nuclear program; and
It would lift all restrictions on Iran in about a decade.
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And, to yet another roaring standing ovation, the Israeli leader thundered, “If Iran wants to be treated like a normal country, let it act like a normal country.”
Netanyahu said any deal must do three things:
Stop Iran’s aggression against neighbors in the Mideast;
Stop Iran’s support of terrorism around the world; and
Stop Iran from “threatening to annihilate my country, Israel, the one and only Jewish state.”
Netanyahu made clear Israel would act alone to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons, if necessary. (Read more from “Netanyahu Goes Nuclear” HERE.)
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Watch full speech here:
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Netanyahu Openly Sides with Obama’s GOP Critics During Speech
By Stephen Collinson. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tuesday that a proposed agreement between world powers and Iran was “a bad deal” that would not stop Tehran from getting nuclear weapons — but would rather pave its way to getting lots of them and leave the Jewish State in grave peril.
In a dramatic address to the U.S. Congress at what he said was a “fateful” crossroads of history, Netanyahu openly sided with President Barack Obama’s Republican critics and sparked an immediate and furious reaction from the White House, as relations between Washington and Israel spun into their deepest chasm for many years.
“We have been told that no deal is better than a bad deal. Well this is a bad deal. It is a very bad deal. We are better off without it,” Netanyahu said, building a case that Iran was not just bent on developing nuclear weapons but was determined to “gobble” up defenseless countries in a wider play for dominance in the Middle East.
“We are being told that the only alternative to this bad deal is war. That is just not true. The alternative to this bad deal is a much better deal,” Netanyahu said to deafening cheers in the House of Representatives chamber, while issuing a firm warning that Israel would stand alone if necessary to defend the existence of the Jewish people.
The response from the White House was swift and did not even try to disguise anger at Netanyahu, who has been locked in a public tussle with Obama for almost his entire administration and has stepped up his criticism as talks between world powers and Iran on a deal reach a crucial final stage. (Read more about Netanyahu warning Congress about the deal with Iran leading to an Iranian nuclear bomb HERE)
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Read the full transcript of Netanyahu’s speech HERE.
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