Speech of the Year: Netanyahu before the U.S. Congress on March 3, 2015
Obama’s effort to ‘muzzle’ Netanyahu may make it the most listened to speech by a foreign leader in U.S. history.
People around the world have been fed scant information on the deal the P5+1 group have been negotiating with Iran and are anxious to hear Netanyahu speak because they realize a nuclear Iran and nuclear proliferation in the region is the most dangerous development since the second world war. The destructive capacity of today’s nuclear weapons is of a far greater magnitude than the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the second world war.
Opening the door to nuclear weapons which sooner or later is likely to be acquired by Radical Islamic terrorists could change life in on this planet as we know it.
Speech of the Year – Editorial
Speeches by foreign leaders to Joint Meetings of Congress are routine events, and often among the more forgettable. So it might have been with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress next Tuesday. But leave it to the political wizards of the Obama Administration to turn it into the global diplomatic event of the year.
This week the Administration unleashed a withering personal and political attack that is unprecedented against a close ally. National Security Adviser Susan Rice even said the speech is “destructive of the fabric of the relationship” between Washington and Jerusalem. That’s some claim against one speech, and it’s worth asking why the Administration has gone to such extraordinary lengths to squelch it. Mr. Netanyahu is expected to make the case against President Obama’s looming nuclear deal with Iran, and perhaps the Administration knows how vulnerable it is to such a critique.
The Prime Minister did nothing more than accept an invitation from a co-equal branch of government, with its own important foreign-policy role. If there is partisanship here, it is from a president whose Iran policy is no longer trusted by much of his own party.
Israelis are naturally wary of becoming estranged from their most important ally. Then again, Israelis are even more wary of a nuclear Iran. The trashing of Mr. Netanyahu has done nothing but increase public interest in his speech. Recent polling finds Americans overwhelmingly in favor of giving the Israeli leader a fair hearing in Congress. (Wall Street Journal)
Rumsfeld: I’m Amazed at How the White House Is Handling Netanayu’s Invitation to Speak to Congress – Boaz Bismuth
Former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told Israel Hayom that the focus on Netanyahu’s visit rather than on his message is an “unfortunate distraction” from the important issue – the Iranian threat. “Iran is a critical issue and Israel is an important ally, and there is nothing inappropriate at all for the speaker to invite the prime minister or for the prime minister to come over. Historically he is a good friend of the U.S….and I find it stunning to see the comments out of the White House on this issue.”
“They have said things that are undiplomatic and inconsistent with the relationship between our two countries and its importance, and I can’t imagine that, among the American people, it will affect our relationship adversely in any way. I’m really amazed at the rudeness, at the undiplomatic way this administration is handling this issue.”
“It is unfortunate because it damages, or appears to damage, the relationship with an important ally for the United States. I think it is exactly what the Iranians are happy to hear – it has to be encouraging for them. But it is also unprofessional.” (Israel Hayom)
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