Amid high diplomatic tensions with the Obama administration over its push for a deal with Iran on the nuclear issue, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived in Washington to address the Congress at the invitation of Republican Speaker John Boehner that the White House does not approve of. Netanyahu, who promptly accepted the Speaker’s unilateral invitation, is laying great store by the visit, even calling it a “historic mission” to cry a halt to a deal with Tehran which he believes will threaten Israel’s very survival. “I will do everything in my ability to secure our future,” he said in Tel Aviv before arriving in Washington on Sunday. An adviser to Netanyahu has been quoted as saying that he has come to Washington to warn of the dangers of the emerging deal that reportedly includes concessions to Iran of a nature that could compromise Israel’s security.
Ahead of his Tuesday address to the Congress, Netanyahu spoke to a large gathering at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), where he denied that he had shown disrespect to President Obama by accepting the Congressional invitation, stressing: “I have great respect for both (President Obama and his office).” Netanyahu also asserted that the US-Israel alliance, notwithstanding the current disagreement over pursuing a deal with Iran, is “stronger than ever”, adding it is going to become even stronger in the coming years.
He, however, made it clear that he will be unsparing on Iran when he addresses a joint session of the US Congress on Tuesday, saying that his address was a “moral obligation” to sound the alarm on Iran, which has “vowed to annihilate Israel, and if develops nuclear weapons, it can achieve that goal”. Obama’s top aide, National Security Advisor Susan Rice, was due to appear before AIPAC later on Monday to lay out the US case for an agreement to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Obama himself was expected to dwell on the subject in an interview he was due to give to a wire service.
Secretary of State John Kerry, who is in Geneva to hold talks with his Iranian counterpart on the deal to restrain Tehran’s nuclear programme in exchange for easing sanctions, sought to reassure Israel by asserting that the United States would never settle for “a bad deal” with Iran. It remains to be seen if Netanyahu’s conciliatory words for President Obama by thanking him for all that he has done for Israel will ease tensions on Capitol Hill, where several Democratic lawmakers had even threatened to boycott his address.
In his AIPAC speech, Netanyahu sought to reject the criticism that his address to Congress was intended to inject Israel into the American partisan debate. He is expected to urge the Congress not only to reject a bad deal with Iran, but push for even tougher American sanctions against Tehran. Just before Netanyahu’s address to AIPAC, US Ambassador to UN Samantha Power sought to reaffirm America’s commitment to a strong alliance with Israel. “We believe firmly that Israel’s security and the US- Israel partnership transcends politics. It always will,” Power said, adding: “This partnership should never be politicised and it cannot and will not be tarnished or broken.”