WASHINGTON — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that his planned address to Congress scheduled for Tuesday is not meant to signal any disrespect for President Barack Obama, nor to insert political partisanship into the U.S.-Israel relationship.
“My speech is not intended to show any disrespect to President Obama or the esteemed office that he holds. I have great respect for both,” Netanyahu said.
Speaking at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on Monday, Netanyahu said he intends to focus his remarks to Congress on the potential of an international nuclear deal with Iran that he believes could “threaten the survival of Israel.”
Netanyahu said those who see a partisan motive in his address have misconstrued his purpose. He has frequently addressed AIPAC, but he has never before addressed Congress without the expressed blessing of the White House. Netanyahu was invited to speak by House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, who did not inform the White House of the invitation in advance.
“Israel has always been a bipartisan issue,” he said. “Israel should always remain a bipartisan issue.” Netanyahu said his purpose Tuesday is not to “inject Israel into the American partisan debate.”
Deploying one of the visual aids for which his international speeches have become known, Netanyahu said Iran is such a large threat to Israel’s future that he cannot stay silent.
He displayed a map showing Iran’s alleged support of terrorism on five continents, and accused Iran of “developing as we speak the capacity to make nuclear weapons. Lot of them.”
The prime minister’s remarks were bracketed by speeches from a pair of top Obama advisers: U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power and National Security Adviser Susan Rice, whose address served as a pre-emptive rebuttal of Netanyahu’s expected critique of the Iran negotiations Tuesday.
With Secretary of State John Kerry opening a new round of talks with Iran in Switzerland, Rice said the U.S. was seeking a deal that would cut off “every single pathway” Iran has to producing a nuclear weapon. She said Obama keeps all options on the table for blocking Tehran’s pursuit of a bomb and declared that “a bad deal is worse than no deal.”
Still, Rice warned against holding out for “unachievable” outcomes, such as getting Iran to fully end domestic enrichment.
“As desirable as that would be, it is neither realistic or achievable,” she said. “If that is our goal, our partners will abandon us.”
Netanyahu said he wants to make his case before Congress, where there is bipartisan legislation that would impose additional sanctions on Iran. Obama has said he would veto the bill.
“The purpose of my speech to Congress (Tuesday) is to speak up about a potential deal with Iran that could threaten Israel’s future,” Netanyahu said. He said he had a moral obligation to speak up before the deadline.
Israel is strong but vulnerable, and it must not only defend itself militarily but stand up for itself on the world stage, Netanyahu said.
“We have a voice,” he said. “Tomorrow, as prime minister of the one and only Jewish state, I plan to use that voice,” he added to applause.
Netanyahu’s trip to Washington is extraordinary, both in the content of the speech he is scheduled to give Tuesday and the fissures that it has created among the Israeli government and the White House, leading Jewish American groups and Jewish Democrats.
“Disagreements between allies are only natural” and nothing new, Netanyahu said, and understandable given the different role and geography of the United States and Israel. He ticked off several past periods of tension, each of which passed without permanent damage to the U.S.-Israeli bond, and said that Israel and the United States are more like a family than friends.
“Disagreements in the family are always uncomfortable, but we must always remember that we are family,” he said.
Netanyahu spoke shortly after Power defended the Obama administration’s approach to negotiations with Iran over that country’s nuclear program and pledged anew that the United States will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. She said U.S. support for Israel is bipartisan, and that U.S. promises to the partnership with Israel are “bedrock commitments.”
Tensions between the sides have been coming to a boiling point since Netanyahu’s speech was announced in January. They rapidly escalated last week, after Rice denounced Netanyahu’s speech to Congress, calling it “destructive” to the relationship between the United States and Israel. Rice said it “injected a degree of partisanship” to the bond between the two countries.
Netanyahu is facing a tougher-than-expected contest for re-election to an unprecedented fourth term on March 17.
Kerry also took a swipe at Netanyahu last week, saying Israel is safer because of an agreement that eased sanctions while negotiations were taking place — a deal that Netanyahu opposed.
