Watch the entire morning at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on C-Span.
AIPAC activists are planning to work Capitol Hill on Tuesday, to lobby legislators to support a tougher sanctions on Iran, as well as a bill subjecting any deal with the Islamic Revolution to congressional approval.
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Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu made his case Monday before America’s pro-Israel lobby AIPAC, against the nuclear deal the Obama administration says it is negotiating with Iran.
“Iran is the foremost state sponsor of terrorism in the world, ” he said. “As prime minister, I have a moral obligation to speak up in the face of these dangers while there is still time to avert them.”
Netanyahu spoke at the AIPAC convention in Washington, one day before he is scheduled to speak to a joint session of before the U.S. Congress.
Netanyahu enraged the Obama administration by accepting the invitation of the Republican leadership of both houses of Congress to speak there, without receiving the White House approval first, as is the conventional protocol.
Referring to the rift with Obama, Netanyahu told his audience of 16, 000 AIPAC delegates: “Our friendship will weather the current disagreement as well, to grow even stronger in the future — because we share the same dreams … because the values that unite us are much stronger than the differences that divide us.”
He added: “My speech is not intended to show any disrespect to Obama or the esteemed office that he holds—I have great respect for both.”
Upon boarding the plane in Israel, Netanyahu described his trip to the U.S. as a “historic mission.”
US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, and national security adviser Susan Rice, also spoke Monday. Rice last week described Netanyahu’s intent to speak to Congress as “destructive.”
“The United States will not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon, period, ” Power said ahead of Netanyahu’s speech. “There will never be a sunset on America’s commitment to Israel’s security.”
“We believe firmly that Israel’s security and the U.S.- Israel partnership transcends politics. It always will, ” Power added. “This partnership should never be politicized and it cannot and will not be tarnished or broken.”
US secretary of state John Kerry said on Sunday that the U.S. was committed to the negotiations with Iran, asking for “the benefit of the doubt” to see if a deal could be reached on Irans nuclear program.
Kerry said he had told Netanyahu on Saturday: “We don’t want to see this turned into some great political football.”
