Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Benjamin Netanyahu Insists Congress Speech Is On

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, fending off criticism at home and abroad, said on Tuesday he remained determined to speak before the U.S. Congress next month on Iran’s nuclear program.

“I am going to the United States not because I seek a confrontation with the President, but because I must fulfill my obligation to speak up on a matter that affects the very survival of my country,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

“I intend to speak about this issue before the March 24th deadline and I intend to speak in the U.S. Congress because Congress might have an important role on a nuclear deal with Iran,” he said.

He said Israel had a profound disagreement with the world powers negotiating with Iran because their offer “would enable Iran to threaten Israel’s survival.”

Tehran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Netanyahu is due to address a joint session of Congress about Iran’s nuclear program on March 3, just two weeks before Israeli elections, following an invitation from John Boehner, the Republican speaker of the house.

Boehner’s invitation has caused consternation in both Israel and the United States, with detractors saying Netanyahu, a hawk on Iran, is working with the Republicans to thumb their noses at President Barack Obama’s policy on Iran.

It is also seen as putting Netanyahu’s political links to the Republicans ahead of Israel’s nation-to-nation ties with the United States, its strongest and most important ally, while serving as a pre-election campaign booster.

Obama on Monday defended his decision not to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his upcoming Washington visit as following basic protocol of not meeting with world leaders just weeks before an election.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

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

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.