Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu rebuffed on Wednesday (February 25) criticism in Washington of his plans to speak in Congress, accusing world powers of forsaking a pledge to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
“There are a lot of reasons to worry from the agreement that being formulated right now. The world powers have undertaken to prevent Iran from nuclear weapon,” he said.
Speaking at the opening of a museum in a Jewish settlement near JerusalemNetanyahu said the deal coming together with Iran would allow the country that has in the past threatened to destroy Israel, to do so.
“From the agreement coming together it appears they have given up on this commitment and they are accepting with iran gradually, in few years, would develop the means to create fissile material for (the production of) very many nuclear weapons. Maybe they accept it, I am not ready to accept it. As Israel‘s Prime minister I am responsible to the security of israel and the israeli citizens. And I must do, everything I can to express our objection, to warn from the danger of iran obtains nuclear weapon, not only for us and to our neighbours, also to the whole world. I respect the White Houseand the President of the United States but on such a fateful matter, that can determine whether or not we survive, I must do everything to prevent such a great danger forIsrael,” Netanyahu said in a speech.
Netanyahu‘s remarks were stronger than his previous criticism of an emerging agreement with Iran as a “bad deal,” which he is expected to argue against in a March 3 speech to the Republican-led Congress.
The Obama Administration has been irked at the speech not having been coordinated with them beforehand.
Israel sees Iran’s nuclear programme as a mortal threat, citing the Islamist regime’s support for guerrillas and militants across the Jewish state’s frontier and threats byTehran in the past to seek Israel‘s demise.
The U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, in what was seen as a swipe as Netanyahu‘s objections to the deal being negotiated with Iran on its programme, said on Tuesday, “anybody running around right now jumping in to say, ‘Well, we don’t like the deal’, or this or that doesn’t know what the deal is. There is no deal yet.”
The controversy intensified further on Wednesday as Obama’s national security adviserSusan Rice said PBS television’s “Charlie Rose” programme the issue overNetanyahu‘s planned speech had “injected a degree of partisanship” and was “destructive of the fabric of the relationship,” between Israel and the U.S.
Also on Wednsday, final preparations were underway in Israel’s central election committee logistics centre in Modi’in, for the deployment of thousends of ballot boxes to polling stations all across the country.
“We are starting to transfer the ballot boxes from here to the regional committee, every trach is going to a different location all over Israel, from there, from each comity they are going to the polling stations, the day before the elections day in order that all the civilians, the Israel civilians would be able to prosecute their vote,” Israel’s Central Election Committee‘s, Motti Gaistman, said.
Reuters wires