Netanyahu Warns Iran on High-Profile U.S. Visit
Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday winds up a high-profile U.S. visit focused on Iran's perceived nuclear threat after warning that his country would not live in the "shadow of annihilation."
Netanyahu was to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and visit the U.S. Congress a day after keenly-watched talks with President Barack Obama against the backdrop of speculation over a possible Israeli strike on Iran.
"Unfortunately, Iran's nuclear program has continued to march forward. Israel has waited ... for diplomacy to work, we've waited for sanctions to work. None of us can afford to wait much longer," Netanyahu told some 13,000 attendees late Monday in a speech before the AIPAC pro-Israel lobbying group.
"As prime minister of Israel I will never let my people live in the shadow of annihilation."
While Clinton has voiced exasperation in the past over settlement building in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem under Netanyahu, he enjoys strong bipartisan backing on Capitol Hill.
Netanyahu saluted Congress during the AIPAC speech on Monday, saying that more than half the members of the legislature were guests in the audience.
He then asked delegates "to stand up and applaud the representatives of the United States," prompting a standing ovation.
"Democrats and Republicans alike, I salute your unwavering support for the Jewish people," he added.
Netanyahu will meet Congressional leaders on Tuesday, winding up the two-day visit in which he held crucial talks with Obama earlier on Monday over how best to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions.
The Obama administration has signaled that it does not yet believe Iran has taken a decision to develop a nuclear weapon, or that the time is right for military action, preferring to give biting new sanctions time to work.
However Israel, which sees a possible Iranian nuclear weapon as a threat to its existence, believes that Iran may be on the cusp of "break out" capacity -- the moment when it could quickly produce weapons-grade uranium.
In his speech before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Netanyahu sought to minimize the differences between himself and Obama.
"(Obama) stated clearly that all options are on the table and that American policy is not containment," Netanyahu said.
"Israel has exactly the same policy. We're determined to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, we leave all options on the table and containment is definitely not an option."
Netanyahu said that for the world to allow Iran -- which he said was dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish state -- to attain a nuclear arsenal evoked memories of U.S. refusal in World War II to bomb the Auschwitz Nazi death camp to prevent the mass extermination of Jews there.
“A nuclear-armed Iran would dramatically increase terrorism by giving terrorists a nuclear umbrella,” he said.
"That means that Iran’s terror proxies like Hizbullah, Hamas will be emboldened to attack America, Israel, and others because they will be backed by a power with atomic weapons."
"My friends, 2012 is not 1944," he said.
Netanyahu told Obama on Monday that Israel must remain the "master of its fate" in a firm defense of his right to mount a unilateral strike on Iran.
Obama assured Netanyahu he had Israel's "back" but also stressed that he saw a "window" for diplomacy, despite rampant speculation Israel could soon mount a high risk go-it-alone military operation.
The leaders, who have had a famously testy relationship, met for two hours of talks amid clear signs of differences on the imminence of the perceived Iranian nuclear threat, if not its ultimate danger to both nations.
In an impassioned on-camera statement, Netanyahu told Obama: "Israel must have the ability always to defend itself, by itself, against any threat.
"That's why my supreme responsibility as prime minister of Israel is to ensure that Israel remains the master of its fate."
A senior U.S. official said Washington now believed after the meeting that Netanyahu understood that Obama was deeply serious about preventing Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.
An Israeli official commented that Israeli concerns were now also widely understood, but did not elaborate.
In the days before Netanyahu arrived, Obama bolstered his rhetoric on Iran -- making clear he did not "bluff" and would order military action if necessary, but refused to set public "red lines" for such a response.
The U.S. official said the administration believed it would have up to a year to decide on how to respond should Iran decide to begin enriching uranium to weapons-grade quality. Israel does not share that timetable.
Source: Agence France Presse
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