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The Obama administration insisted yesterday that United States diplomacy with Iran deserved “the benefit of the doubt”, as Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu left for a “fateful” trip to the US to lobby against a nuclear deal with Tehran.
As nuclear talks with Iran reach a crunch point, US secretary of state John Kerry said it was better to pursue diplomacy than to "have to do a strategy militarily".
“Our hope is diplomacy can work,” Mr Kerry told ABC television, arguing that a 2013 interim agreement with Tehran had halted significant aspects of Iran’s nuclear programme.
“I believe we deserve the benefit of the doubt to find out whether or not we can get a similarly good agreement with respect to the future,” he said.
Congress address Setting out on a trip to Washington that could be decisive to his own near-term political future, Mr Netanyahu will address the American Israel Public Affairs Committee pressure group today, then a joint session of the Republican-controlled
Congress tomorrow.
“I feel I am the emissary of all Israelis – even those who disagree with me – of the entire Jewish people,” he said before leaving.
“I am deeply and genuinely concerned for the security of all Israelis, for the fate of the nation and for the fate of our people, and I will do my utmost to ensure our future.”
In both Israel and the US, critics have accused him of using his address to Congress as a podium to undermine US- led diplomacy with Tehran while bolstering his political chances two weeks before a closely fought election in which he faces a growing challenge from the centre-left.
Destroying alliance Isaac Herzog, leader of the opposition Zionist Union, said yesterday: "There is no dispute about the Iranian threat, but the speech will not help and not change anything, but could just cause damage. Netanyahu is destroying [the] American alliance for a few votes at the ballot box."
Opposition parties have tried, with limited success, to refocus the agenda in the election campaign away from Iran and security issues and towards social issues such as soaring house prices.
About three dozen Democrats, including several who are highly supportive of Israel, have said they will skip Mr Netanyahu’s speech, which many have accused of splitting the Iranian nuclear issue and support for Israel along partisan lines.
The US, Germany and three European permanent members of the United Nations Security Council are seeking the outline of a nuclear deal with Tehran by the end of March, and to finalise technical details by June 30th. – (Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2015)