WarSclerotic

Israel eager to put rift with Obama over Iran deal in past, Netanyahu says

Source: Israel eager to put rift with Obama over Iran deal in past, Benjamin Netanyahu says – Israel News – Jerusalem Post

Prime minister tells US television that the two governments must now work to contain Iranian aggression in the region.

The rift between the United States and Israel over the Iran is in the past, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News over the weekend.

The premier explained that the two countries must now work together to contain Tehran’s aggression in the region and ensure its compliance with the deal to curb its nuclear program.

“President [Barack] Obama has said that he is committed to preventing dangerous weapons coming into the hands of Iran’s proxies, that he wants to prevent Iran from destabilizing countries in the Middle East,” Netanyahu said.

“There is no better partner for that than Israel,” said Netanyahu, who spoke extensively with Greta Van Susteren on Friday. He made similar statements to CNN in an interview that will air on Sunday.

In both conversations, Netanyahu spoke of a renewed alliance between Israel and the US over the dangers posed by Iran. He also talked about ending the rift between him and Obama that has marked the relationship for the last year.

On Thursday, Netanyahu delivered a fiery address to the UN General Assembly in New York against the nuclear deal worked out in July between Iran and the six world powers.

The nations of the world, not just Israel, are endangered by the deal which leaves Iran with the ability to build atomic weapons and does not hinder its work on intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, Netanyahu said.

“Now remember this: Iran already has missiles that can reach Israel. So those intercontinental ballistic missiles that Iran is building – they’re not meant for us – They’re meant for you. For Europe. For America. For raining down mass destruction – anytime, anywhere,” Netanyahu said.

The prime minister’s public and persistent campaign against the deal, has put him at odds with Obama, creating the most serious crisis in the relations between the two leaders since they both entered office in 2009.

In his UN address on Monday, Obama did not mention Israel at all, even though he did so in all six of his past speeches at the opening sessions of the UN General Assembly.

Netanyahu, in contrast, mentioned Obama three times during his UN General Assembly speech on Thursday, in which he spoke of how the two countries would work together for a common future and thanked the US for its continued support of Israel.

“Israel deeply appreciates President Obama’s willingness to bolster our security, help Israel maintain its qualitative military edge and help Israel confront the enormous challenges we face,” Netanyahu said.

When he met with US Secretary of State John Kerry in New York on Friday, prior to departing for Israel on Saturday night, Netanyahu spoke with him about ways the two countries could move forward to combat Iranian aggression and ensure its compliance with the deal. He plans to hold a similar conversation with Obama when he mets with him in the White House in November.

“You know, we had a profound disagreement on the Iran nuclear deal.  And President Obama and I both said, well, this is a disagreement within the family,” Netanyahu told Van Susteren of Fox News.

“I appreciated the fact that President Obama called me while that deal was being discussed.  And he said, ‘Look, we can talk about bolstering Israel’s security now or later’,” Netanyahu said.

“Well, this morning was later. This was the day after. It began today,” he said.

Netanyahu then outlined three points that Israel plans to focus on in its talks with the US and in general when it comes to Iran in the coming months; ensuring Iran’s compliance with the deal, bolstering regional forces such as Israel to combat its aggression and tearing down Tehran’s global network of terror.

“We’re going to talk [with the US] and we started talking about what we need to do,” said Netanyahu.

“One is we have to keep Iran’s feet to the fire. We have to make sure it abides by its obligations under the nuclear treaty, under the nuclear deal.”

“Second, we have to bolster those forces that are working against Iran’s aggression in the region. It’s growing. And the most important party that works against Iran’s aggression in the region is Israel.”

“So I appreciated it, I look forward to the opportunity to discuss with President Obama how to put flesh on his serious commitment to bolster Israel’s security in the face of this new challenge.”

“And third, we have to tear down Iran’s global terror network, because it’s not merely increasing its aggression in the region, it’s building terror cells on five continents, including in this hemisphere,” Netanyahu said.

Israel, he said, is the most powerful country that stands in the breach of a collapsing region.

“The one party that is standing there 10 miles from ISIS, a few hundred yards from Iran’s murderous proxies, is Israel.”

“Now, we’re protecting ourselves. But in so doing, we’re also protecting the neighborhood.”

“Israel has no better ally than the United States. And the United States has no better ally than Israel. And I think the order of the day now, after the deal, is to make sure that Israel and America’s other allies are strengthened in the region against this Iranian aggression. And I look forward to this conversation with the president,” he said.

One of the places that Iran is operating in is the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, where it is trying to build a terrorist front and have even sent Iranian generals there.

If Israel is attacked from Syria, it will retaliate, he said, and added that Israel would also thwart the transfer of arms through that territory.

Last month, he said, he flew to Moscow to discuss the situation in Syria with President Vladmir Putin. The two countries are creating a mechanism by which they can operate separately in Syria, without “bumping” into each other.

Israel and Russia, “used to be in an adversarial position many years ago. I don’t think we want to get back there and I know Russia doesn’t want to get back there,” Netanyahu said.

“We’re doing our best to make sure that it doesn’t happen. And I don’t think it will happen,” he added.

Explore posts in the same categories: Uncategorized

This entry was posted on October 4, 2015 at 4:44 PM and is filed under Uncategorized. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.