Leading up to his congressional address on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on Monday, where he downplayed any personal conflicts with President Obama and said he has a "moral obligation" to warn against dangers posed by reaching a nuclear deal with Iran.
"Reports of the demise of the Israeli-U.S. relations [are] not only premature, they're just wrong," Netanyahu told the 16,000-strong audience at the annual AIPAC policy conference, adding that "our alliance is stronger than ever," reported The Jerusalem Post.
"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 said.
Netanyahu said that his controversial speech on Tuesday before Congress is not meant to disrespect Obama, who he has "great respect for" and "deeply appreciates" for a number of reasons, some of which, Netanyahu said were too secret to publicly disclose. Nor is his intention to introduce politics into the debate over Iran's nuclear program, he said.
At least 30 Democrats plan to skip Netanyahu's speech on the grounds that the prime minister is injecting himself into American political decision making, and leaving little room for constructive discussion. Many on the left, Obama included, believe that Netanyahu and House Speaker John Boehner violated diplomatic protocol by not first talking to the president before arranging his speech before Congress.
But that was not Netanyahu's intentions, he said. The purpose of his address is "to speak up about a potential deal with Iran that could threaten the survival of Israel," he said.
"Iran is the foremost state sponsor of terrorism in the world," he said as he pointed to a projected map allegedly showing Iran's global involvement in training, arming and dispatching terrorists on five continents. "Iran envelopes the entire world with its tentacles of terror."
"As Prime Minister of Israel, I have a moral obligation to speak up in the fact of these dangers while there is still time to avert them," he added.
"For 2,000 years my people, the Jewish people, were stateless, defenseless, voiceless. Today, we are no longer silent. Today we have a voice. And tomorrow, as prime minister of the one and only Jewish state, I plan to use that voice."
Netanyahu is expected to use his speech on Tuesday to warn of what could happen if the U.S. continues to pursue a nuclear deal with Iran, one that the prime minister says will allow Tehran to eventually develop a nuclear weapon. Instead, Netanyahu wants the U.S. to impose tougher sanctions on the country.
AIPAC activists plan to descend upon Capitol Hill on Tuesday to lobby lawmakers to support additional Iranian sanction bills, reported CNN.
