US, EU battle Netanyahu for public's trust on Iran
Israeli leader sees Congress as crucial backstop against "bad deal."
US and Israeli officials are locked in a high-stakes battle to gain public support on how best to deal with Iran's nuclear program.
With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealing directly to Congress to stop what he considers a bad deal, the White House and its European allies are telling all who will listen that they will always have Israel's back. The dueling narratives were on full display at the pro-Israel lobby of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's (AIPAC) policy conference March 2 and behind the scenes amid what looks to be the final stretch to getting an agreement.
"The days when the Jewish people were passive in the face of threats to annihilate us — those days are over!" Netanyahu vowed as he laid out his rationale for addressing a joint session of Congress on March 3. "Today we have a voice. And tomorrow as prime minister of the one and only Jewish state, I plan to use that voice."
He said, "I plan to speak about an Iranian regime that is threatening to destroy Israel, that's devouring country after country in the Middle East, that's exporting terror throughout the world and that is developing as we speak the capacity to make nuclear weapons. Lots of them."
