President Barack Obama pushed back on the notion that he feels pressure from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the contentious Iranian issue, dismissing as “noise” the Israeli leader’s calls for the U.S. to lay out a “red line” that Iran’s nuclear program must not cross to avoid American military intervention.

“When it comes to our national security decisions, any pressure that I feel is simply to do what’s right for the American people,” Obama told CBS’ 60 Minutes, in an interview aired the night before he was to with other world leaders at the United Nations. “And I am going to block out any noise that’s out there.”

In the interview, Obama defended his foreign policy record at a time of anti-American rage in the Muslim world, firing back at suggestions from Republican nominee Mitt Romney that the president has been weak with allies and enemies alike.

“If Gov. Romney is suggesting that we should start another war, he should say so,” he told CBS.

For more, go to Haaretz.com

This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.

We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.

This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.

With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

Don't just read the Forward - invest in it. Make a matched gift today.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$120 $180 $360 OTHER AMOUNT