JERUSALEM (Press Release)– Returning to Israel following his speech to a joint meeting of the United State Congress, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu answered President Obama’s criticism that he had offered nothing new. In reply, Netanyahu said:
“I return to Israel knowing that Israel’s concerns regarding the impending deal with Iran are better understood.
That the deal currently on the table is deeply flawed.
Instead of preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons this impending deal will facilitate that development.
The alternative to that bad deal is not war but a much better deal.
I proposed in Washington placing two new parameters on any deal with Iran.
First, place tougher restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program, extending its breakout time to the bomb in years.
Second, I called for only lifting those restrictions only when Iran ceases promoting terrorism, ends its aggression against its neighbors, and stops threatening to destroy the State of Israel.
I believe these proposals constitute a practical alternative to what is currently on the table.”
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Preceding provided by the office of Prime Minister Netanyahu
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Netanyahu knows what he’s doing: the three conditions he set are couched in terms that are vague enough to make it impossible for Iran to agree to any of them, let alone seriously honor them. In other words, it’s a clever trap, one from which Obama will not be able to escape short of walking away altogether from the negotiations. The only thing that will force Iran to change course now is the immediate reinstatement of economic sanctions, if not altogether a full economic blockade, backed by a credible threat of force. The latter will not come from Obama, of course, but Bibi was unequivocal about it: Israel will not wait for the bad deal Obama has nurtured to come about. Translation: Israel will strike first. — J.J. Surbeck, San Diego