“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress succeeded in directing the argument about the nuclear deal [with Iran] to the one important question: Is it good or bad? And therein lies its great importance.” This statement was uttered by Danny Danon, Knesset member and chair of the Likud Central Committee. In this way, the former deputy defense minister expressed his view of the crisis in Israel-US relations, following Netanyahu’s visit to Washington on March 3.

Danon is not one of Netanyahu’s close associates in the Likud, to put it mildly. The prime minister discharged him from his position as deputy defense minister at the beginning of the Protective Edge campaign in July 2014, after Danon hurled harsh criticisms against the government’s policy vis-a-vis Hamas. He also opposed Netanyahu several times in the Likud Central Committee on inner political issues of the party.

However, last week, Danon backed up Netanyahu in the international public relations effort surrounding the prime minister’s oration in Capitol Hill. To Danon it was clear that the Likud chairman did the right thing as prime minister of Israel when he did not yield to pressures from the United States or Israel — by political adversaries and high-level commentators — and insisted on delivering his speech to Congress.

The text of the interview follows: