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Netanyahu Obama Meeting

March 6, 2012 by · Comments Off on Netanyahu Obama Meeting 

Netanyahu Obama Meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu takes his campaign for stopping Iran’s nuclear program to Congress today after telling President Barack Obama his country must be free to decide whether to take military action.

Netanyahu, who met with Obama at the White House yesterday morning, ended the day with a speech to American Jewish leaders in which he said he won’t let Israel live in the “shadow of annihilation.”

While Netanyahu praised Obama for leading a campaign to toughen economic sanctions on Iran, he said such actions have not led Iran to curtail its nuclear program and Israel must be able to defend itself. Iran has denied its program is for anything but peaceful purposes, and the prospect of confrontation in a region with over half the world’s oil reserves has sent crude prices soaring.

“None of us can afford to wait much longer,” Netanyahu said before about 14,000 members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee at the Washington Convention Center.

Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with U.S. House Speaker John Boehner and other Congressional leaders, wrapping up a five-day trip to the U.S. and Canada.

The prime minister said in his White House meeting with Obama yesterday that Israel must remain “the master of its fate” in deciding whether a military strike is necessary to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon.

In the meeting, Obama told Netanyahu “there is still a window” for a diplomatic solution to the confrontation with Iran. He said the U.S. has a “rock solid” commitment to Israel’s security and that “all options” are available to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran.

Netanyahu Obama

February 21, 2012 by · Comments Off on Netanyahu Obama 

Netanyahu Obama, U.S. President Barack Obama will host a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on March 5, the White House said on Monday, a session that will likely center on the West’s efforts to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

A White House statement rounding up the recent Israel visit by Obama’s National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, which announced the date for the upcoming meeting, indicated that the top advisor discussed the “full range of security issues of mutual concern” during his meetings with Israeli leadership.

“The visit is part of the continuous and intensive dialogue between the United States and Israel and reflects our unshakeable commitment to Israel’s security,” the statement added.

Donilon’s visit, as well as the planned Netanyahu-Obama meeting, came at a time of intense speculation concerning the possibility that Israel may initiate a strike against Iran’s nuclear weapons over its fears the Islamic Republic is progressing toward nuclear weapons capability.

On Sunday, U.S. joint chiefs of staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey and British Foreign Minister William Hague warned against an Israeli attack on Iran, citing the grave consequences for the entire region.

In an interview broadcast on CNN, Dempsey said Israel has the capability to strike Iran and delay the Iranians “probably for a couple of years. But some of the targets are probably beyond their reach.”

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