Elizabeth Hagedorn“We’ve been told that no deal is better than a bad deal. Well this is a bad deal. It’s a very bad deal. We’re better off without it,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
As expected, Netanyahu used his platform Tuesday to warn Congress that any deal between Iran and the West could threaten his country's existence.
That deal — designed to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons — is in the final stages.
The Obama administration believes getting Iran to scale back its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief is better than no deal at all. As Netanyahu sees it, any deal that doesn’t force Iran to fully dismantle its nuclear program is a bad one.
“That deal would not prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, it would all but guarantee that Iran gets those weapons —lots of them,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
House Speaker John Boehner's decision to invite Netanyahu to Washington — done without first notifying the White House — has been widely described as a low point in U.S.-Israeli relations.
According to The Hill, more than 50 congressional Democrats had planned to boycott his speech.
The White House saw the speech as a snub by Netanyahu, who Obama has a long history of personal differences with. During his speech, Netanyahu acknowledged the controversy.
“I deeply regret that some perceive my being here as political. That was never my intention,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu, who’s up for re-election in two weeks, will not meet with President Obama while in Washington. (Video via C-SPAN)
This video includes images from Getty Images.
