Jerusalem – Israel’s opposition leader said Tuesday that the upcoming speech by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the U.S. Congress warning against an emerging nuclear deal with Iran is “spin” aimed at political gain at home ahead of March elections.
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Labor Party chief Issac Herzog said “no Israeli leader will ever accept a nuclear Iran” but the way Netanyahu voices his concerns is for “his political interest.”
Herzog is competing against Netanyahu in the March 17 election as part of a center-left coalition called the Zionist Union.
Netanyahu accepted a Republican invitation to address Congress on Iran next week. The speech angered the Obama administration because it was arranged without consulting the White House, a breach of protocol.
The planned speech has drawn fire in Israel as well, coming just two weeks before national elections. Netanyahu has rejected the criticism, saying it is his duty to lobby against the nuclear deal.
Herzog told reporters Tuesday that Israel should work closely with the U.S to resolve disputes over Iran rather than butting heads. He accused Netanyahu of using the visit for domestic political gain.
“I think part of it all is spin that has to do with his own political interest rather than dealing directly with the most important issue of how do you make sure that there is no daylight between us and the American administration on the exact prerequisites of a deal, how do we make sure that there is an iron-clad agreement or a good agreement and how do we define a bad agreement, and moreover how do we work in trust and confidence together in order to change the situation,” Herzog said.
“Let’s be frank about it, Iran is the most dangerous rogue nation in the world,” he added.
Israel views a nuclear-armed Iran as a threat to its existence, citing Tehran’s repeated calls for Israel’s destruction, its long-range missile program and its support for violent anti-Israel groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran insists its nuclear program is for purely peaceful purposes like power generation and medical isotopes.
Iran reached a landmark interim nuclear deal with world powers in November 2013 under which it converted or diluted its stock of 20 percent enriched uranium. It is negotiating a final deal with the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, with the two sides hoping to agree on a preliminary deal in March and a follow-up pact in June.
Netanyahu has repeatedly called it a “bad deal” that endangers world peace and says it his duty to speak up about it despite criticism.
And just how much support, money wise or other, is this opposition receiving from the White House?
Nobody could accuse me of being a zionist, so I am aware that none of the realistic candidates for PM could ever be a legitimate leader if Israel was at least somewhat of the Jewish country. However, since Israelis seem to be doomed to be saddled with a secularist government for the next twenty years or so, until the demographics change in our favor, and the realistic choice is between Netanyahu and that Isaac guy (he wouldn’t even call himself Yitzchok, ashamed of his grandfather?) who thinks that addressing US Congress on the subject of nuclear Iran is just politics, that guy is downright dangerous.
Besides, his choice of words confirms what we knew anyway: that he is Barack’s puppet. He says “… dealing directly with the most important issue of how do you make sure that there is no daylight between us and the American administration,” when we all remember that one of the promises Barack made during his first campaign, and the one he actually kept, was to establish the “daylight” between US and Israel.
I am pretty sure that secular Israelis are more intelligent than secular American Jews (not much to ask) and would not vote for Barack-Isaac ticket. Or am I too optimistic?
1) Opposition is funded by Obama to undermine Netanyahu.
2) Regardless if Netanyahu is right or wrong, the opposition certainly has a SPIN as their political biased motivation as to why to criticize Netanyahu at this time. So all critics need to be taken with a Grain Of Salt.
3) Just because Netanyahu has something to gain, does not diminish the fact thy is cause is true.
4) Netanyahu is genuinely pressed for time now, before his elections because in TRUTH Obama RUSHING a very bad deal with Iran to be completed within the next few weeks.
This leaves Netanyahu no choice to postpone his trip before Obama allows Iran to nuke Israel.
The info is public, Iran leaders say it openly they want to wipe Israel off the map with nukes !