Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to social media today to defend his upcoming U.S. congressional address.
"I am going to the United States not because I seek a confrontation with the President, but to speak up for the very survival of my country," Netanyahu wrote on Twitter Tuesday. "I intend to speak in the U.S Congress because Congress might have an important role on a nuclear deal with Iran."
Iran maintains that its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes, but Israel has long feared Tehran is close to developing nuclear weapons that could threaten its existence.
"This is a regime, Iran, that is openly committed to Israel's destruction," Netanyahu continued. "It would be able, under this deal, to break out to a nuclear weapon in a short time, and within a few years, to have the industrial capability to produce many nuclear bombs for the goal of our destruction."
Netanyahu is scheduled to speak before Congress on March 3 to warn of potential dangers posed by an Iranian nuclear deal, urging for increased sanctions instead. However, Republican and Democratic lawmakers have disagreed on whether a visit from the prime minister is appropriate.
The Obama administration maintains that increasing sanctions at this time would harm ongoing nuclear disarmament talks, and is upset that House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Netanyahu didn't follow protocol by first contacting the White House before planning a visit to Capitol Hill. More than a dozen Democrats have refused to attend the speech, and Vice President Joe Biden won't be attending either, reported The Hill.
Republicans largely support the visit and believe it's necessary to hear Netanyahu's views.
While there is a history of seemingly bad blood between Obama and Netanyahu, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest insisted that the president has repeatedly demonstrated his commitment to Israel.
Obama said that he won't be meeting with the Netanyahu because he wants to remain neutral in the weeks before the Israeli leader is up for reelection.
"The president does not want to be in a position of even appearing to interfere with the outcome of an Israeli election," Earnest said.
"The relationship between the United States and Israel, and certainly between leaders in Israel and leaders in the United States, shouldn't just be reduced to the relationship between political parties. It's actually a relationship between two allies."
