(AFP Photo)
By Tim Nanns
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned US lawmakers in his speech Tuesday not to “ignore aggression in the hopes of an illusory peace”, strongly rejecting ongoing US-led negotiations with Iran.
In a highly controversial speech, Netanyahu started his third US Congress appearance by expressing gratitude to the US and the Obama administration, thus likely trying to ease the tensions his set speech had created beforehand. However, he moved on directly to criticise a potential nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, comments on which took up the lion’s share of his 39-minute speech.
While he said that the Iranian regime would “always be an enemy of America”, he did not completely refuse any kind of agreement. Instead, he insisted on a “better deal and keeping up the pressure on a very vulnerable regime”.
Netanyahu said “we, the Jewish people, can defend ourselves” and that Israel would stand, even if it would have to stand alone, possibly referring to a military solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis.
The Israeli PM’s speech at the joint US Congress session is critical in many ways. It was set barely two weeks before the Israeli general elections on 17 March, in which Netanyahu hopes to be elected for an unprecedented fourth term in office. The timing has given importance to his address to Congress.
Secondly, the nuclear negotiations with Iran, currently being held in Geneva with US Secretary of State John Kerry directly involved, are about to reach their set deadline on 24 March.
Commenting on Netanyahu’s speech to journalists, Obama urged patience on the deal “that Iran has agreed to, at which point everyone can evaluate it”. He also criticised Netanyahu’s lack of serious alternatives to the ongoing negotiations. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi issued a statement the same day, saying she was “near tears” because of “the insult to the intelligence of the United States”.
US State Department deputy spokesperson Marie Harf stated during a press briefing Tuesday there were “perplexing things” in the Israeli PM’s speech. Harf said these included the possible lift of all sanctions against Iran as part of a possible deal, which “is not the case”, generally criticising the speech as “all rhetoric and nothing more”.
