On return from US, Netanyahu hails speech’s ‘resonance’

Upon his return to Israel from a three-day trip to Washington in which he warned about Iran’s nuclear threat, Prime Minister Netanyahu on Wednesday responded to remarks by President Barack Obama saying that his speech was received “with great resonance.”

Although Obama on Tuesday said Netanyahu offered no “viable alternatives” to the current negotiations in his speech to a joint session of Congress, the prime minister responded by calling for major amendments to the agreement currently taking shape.

“Firstly, I called to limit Iran’s nuclear capabilities in order to extend the time period needed to reach a bomb. This is the time it will take to produce the material needed for a nuclear bomb in case it breaks the agreement,” Netanyahu said.

“Secondly, I called to maintain all current restrictions on Iran as long as it continues to sponsor terror, act aggressively in the region and threaten to annihilate the State of Israel.”

Netanyahu on Tuesday claimed the nuclear deal emerging between Iran and world powers “will not stop Iran’s path towards a bomb, but rather pave it,” adding that “it is unacceptable to grant [Iran] the tools to threaten our existence, the region and the entire world.”

Responding to Obama on Wednesday, Netanyahu said Congress would likely be an “influencing and possibly even deciding” factor regarding any agreement with Iran.

“My remarks were received with great resonance in Congress, and that has particular importance at this time,” Netanyahu stated.

In an interview with NBC on Wednesday, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer reiterated what he said were Netanyahu’s main points, namely that the alternative to the “bad deal” with Iran was a better deal in which its breakout time to manufacturing a bomb was restricted. He pointed out that one thing that Netanyahu was saying that was new was the linking of the lifting of sanctions on Iran to a change in its behavior.

“Let them stop their aggression in the region, let them stop sponsoring terrorism all over the world, and let them stop threatening Israel with annihilation,” he said.

Obama said Tuesday that Netanyahu’s alternative to talks amounted to “nothing new” whatsoever.” That, he noted, would lead Iran to redouble its efforts to build a nuclear bomb.

“We don’t yet have a deal. But if we are successful, this will be the best deal possible with Iran to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon,” he said.

The invitation to Netanyahu to address Congress, extended by House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, has triggered a political furor in the United States. Meanwhile, Netanyahu’s opponents in Israel accused him of staging the speech as an campaign ploy.

AP and AFP contributed to this report.