Benjamin Netanyahu Compares Congress Speech With Trip to Paris After Terror
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to make a controversial speech to Congress and compared the appearance to his journey to Paris after last month’s terror attacks against Jews.
“I went to Paris not just as the prime minister of Israel but as a representative of the entire Jewish people,” Netanyahu said during a conference for French-speaking Likud activists, Haaretz reported. “Just as I went to Paris, so I will go anyplace I’m invited to convey the Israeli position against those who want to kill us. Those who want to kill us are, first and foremost, any Iranian regime that says outright it plans to destroy us. I will not hesitate to say what’s needed to warn against this danger, and prevent it.”
Earlier, he said Israel will do everything it can to prevent the world powers from signing a “bad and dangerous” deal with Iran over its nuclear program.
“We will continue to take action and to lead the international effort against Iran’s arming itself with nuclear weapons. We will do everything and will take any action to foil this bad and dangerous agreement that will place a heavy cloud over the future of the State of Israel and its security,” Netanyahu said Sunday at the start of the regular weekly Cabinet meeting.
The statement comes as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif met on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. They announced that they intend to complete a framework agreement by the end of March.
“From this stems the urgency of our efforts to try and block this bad and dangerous agreement,” Netanyahu told the Cabinet.
“”The major powers and Iran are galloping toward an agreement that will enable Iran to arm itself with nuclear weapons, which will endanger the existence of the State of Israel,” he said.
Zarif in Munich called for the lifting of sanctions on Iran – calling them a “liability” and saying that “You need to get rid of them if you want a solution.” He said he did not believe an extension of the nuclear talks would be “either necessary or useful.”
“I don’t think if we don’t have an agreement it will be the end of the world,” Zarif added.
Zarif criticized Netanyahu, saying that Israel is hiding behind an existential Iranian threat.
“They cannot create a smokescreen to hide their atrocities against the Palestinian people, their continued violation of Palestinian human rights, their continued acts of aggression against Palestinian, Lebanese, Jordan and Syrian people under the guise of a hypothetical Iranian threat that is more hype than anything else,” Zarif said during a speech at the conference.
“Iran is not threatening anybody. We are not threatening to use force, we are not saying that all options are on the table,” he said.
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