In an impassioned speech in front of the US Congress last Tuesday, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the U.S. that the new deal being made with Iran would eventually lead to the nation acquiring a nuclear bomb of its own.
Netanyahu is referring to a possible ten-year deal between the U.S. and Iran, where the latter would freeze any sensitive nuclear activity for at least ten years.
“This is a bad deal. It is a very bad deal. We are better off without it,” Netanyahu said.”If the deal now being negotiated is accepted by Iran, that deal will not prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. It would all but guarantee that Iran gets those weapons — lots of them,” he warned.
This puts him at odds with President Obama who has been working on the deal with Iran. The President has shot back and said that Netanyahu offered ‘nothing new’ to the table. Critics have referred to it as a extended campaign speech, two weeks ahead of a crucial vote for the Prime Minister.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi called the speech “an insult to the intelligence of the United States” and underscored a deep political divide in the U.S. government. The Prime Minister was invited by Republicans and essentially bypassed the White House. Democrats considered it an insult to the President and as many as 60 Democratic members of the U.S. Congress chose not to attend the event.
Back home in Israel, the reactions are just as divided. Isreal’s opposition leader Isaac Herzog said that Netanyahu’s speech “did not change US policy, and now Israel stands isolated and alone.”
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