Why is Bibi's speech to Congress key for Israel's security?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has headed the battle against nuclear Iran for many years, and his upcoming speech to Congress fits in with his concerns for Israel's existence.
On March 3, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will appear before a joint session of Congress in Washington and will try to explain to the 435 representatives and 100 senators — or at least those who won’t be absent for the speech — about the danger of the agreement with Iran now being worked out by the United States and the other powers conducting negotiations with it.
In ordinary times, Israeli citizens would be proud of the invitation for their prime minister to speak before a joint session of Congress, and this is the third time it’s happened. But this time sharp criticism has been leveled at Netanyahu in both Israel and the United States, and he is accused of cooking up electoral mischief with the speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner. According to this argument, Netanyahu wants to speak before the joint session, two weeks prior to the general election in Israel on March 17, to win votes from those who would be impressed by the event, while Boehner will use this opportunity to virtually stick a finger in President Barack Obama’s eye, and at the same time to get some additional Jewish votes in anticipation of the 2016 presidential and congressional elections.
The agreement now being worked out with Iran is terrible and dangerous, and it will enable the Iranians to continue and advance in their efforts to become a nuclear nation, or at least a nearly nuclear nation. This is the assessment of many experts in the United States, Israel and elsewhere. Moreover, Iran doesn’t hide its hostility to Israel and its desire to destroy the Jewish state. It acts against Israel from southern Lebanon, the Golan Heights and even in distant countries such as Argentina.
In this situation, what should an Israeli prime minister, whatever his name, do? Sit with his hands folded, or warn by every means possible about the danger, which in Netanyahu’s view, is the most serious threat to the Jewish people since the Holocaust?
