Netanyahu defends UN speech attacking Iran deal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday defended his rebuke of the Iran nuclear deal a day earlier at the United Nations General Assembly.
“I was staring down the U.N. that celebrates its 70th anniversary, 70 years after the Holocaust, in which it pledged to work day in and day out against genocide,” Netanyahu told PBS’ Charlie Rose in an interview Friday.
“And here the leader of Iran comes up — again and again and again, including just a few days ago — and calls for the genocide of my people, the murder of the citizens of Israel, my countrymen,” he continued. “And practically nobody says a damn thing.”
{mosads}Netanyahu on Thursday drew attention for his harsh condemnation of the deal in New York.
“It’s not easy to oppose something that is embraced by the greatest powers in the world,” Netanyahu said Thursday. “But throughout our history, the Jewish people have learned the heavy price of silence.
“I refuse to be silent,” he declared, striking the lectern.
Though Israel did not take part in the Iran agreement, Netanyahu said Friday he was right to make clear his feelings on the deal.
“I didn’t have a vote on that table but I have a voice,” he told Rose. “And the Jewish people had no voice seventy years ago, no voice to even speak out to those who would exterminate us — well I do now. And I suppose that’s the first responsibility of the prime minister of Israel.”
The prime minister noted that he and President Obama had a disagreement “in the family” about the deal, but added: “I don’t think we have a disagreement about Israel’s right to self-defense.”
Netanyahu listed three primary goals for the future.
“Number one, keep Iran’s feet to the fire, make sure they take care of their obligations,” he said.
“Number two, defend against Iran’s aggression in the region,” he continued. “Number three, tear down Iran’s global terror network, which includes terror cells in this hemisphere as well.”
On the last point, Netanyahu insisted the terror cells are a valid concern.
“You think that’s a spin maybe?” he asked. “I’m not talking about concrete things? Iran is building terror cells in this hemisphere.”
The Israeli leader noted that he recently met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
“He told me his goals pretty much as he enunciated them here at the U.N., and I said, ‘Well I have different goals,’ ” Netanyahu said.
He added that it’s in the best interest of both his country and Putin’s to stay on good terms.
“We don’t want a conflict with Russia. And I’m pretty sure Russia doesn’t want a conflict with us.”
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