Obama discusses Netanyahu’s speech to Congress

Speaking about Netanyahu’s speech to Congress on March 3, Obama says he understands Netanyahu made it because “he cares very much about the security of the Israeli people; in his view he was doing what’s right […] In my mind it is very much in Israel’s interest that Iran doesn’t get nuclear weapons.”

But the president disagrees with Netanyahu approach to achieve such an outcome: “The worst scenario is the path we’re walking if there’s no resolution” and the world is kept guessing whether Iran has in fact succeeded in covertly building a nuclear weapon.

Obama says he “respectfully disagree[s]” with Netanyahu’s decision to speak to Congress about the Iranian nuclear threat.

Asked about the way the speech was decided upon, without direct coordination with the White House, Obama smiles and says, “I think if I would get to the Knesset and speak to Mr. [Isaac] Herzog… it would be considered breaking the rules.”

When Obama visited Israel as president in 2013, he skipped an address to the Israeli parliament, opting instead to speak over the heads of Israel’s leadership directly to the Israeli public, mainly university students, at the Jerusalem Conference Center. The audience at the 50-minute address was extremely receptive. Ironically, the one heckler at the time was a Palestinian student.