Netanyahu to Tell Obama Iran Concerns Trump Islamic State
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with President Barack Obama today at the White House in a bid to find common ground on Iran talks after a year of disputes over making peace with the Palestinians.
Netanyahu said he would stress to Obama the threat posed by Irans nuclear program, amid concern in Israel that the U.S. may lose focus on the issue because of its military campaign against Islamic State forces in Iraq and Syria.
We all support the effort led by President Obama to stop and defeat ISIS, Netanyahu told a gathering of American Jewish community leaders in New York yesterday, using an acronym for Islamic States former name. But to defeat ISIS, and leave Iran as a threshold nuclear power, is to win the battle and lose the war.
World powers are negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program as a U.S.-led military alliance strikes Islamic State, an al-Qaeda splinter group that has seized parts of Iraq and Syria and gained notoriety for beheadings and crucifixions. Although Iran isnt part of that coalition, its also helping its Iraqi and Syrian allies to fight the militant group, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said it has a role to play in defeating Islamic State.
Netanyahu says a nuclear-armed Iran would be a threat to Israels survival, and all options including a military strike, are possible to prevent that happening.
The Israeli leader dismisses Irans claim that its nuclear program is peaceful, and says any deal reached with Iran must force it to end uranium enrichment and other activities that could be used to create weapons.
Israel isnt a party to the Iran talks, which are set to resume within two weeks with a goal of reaching an accord by Nov. 22.
While Israel understandably wants to refocus the worlds attention on Irans nuclear ambitions as Islamic State atrocities grab the headlines, its a mistake to question the Obama administrations resolve on Iran, according to David Makovsky, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
I sharply disagree with the view that theres any kind of trade-off between the ISIS and Iran issues, because Obamas coalition is basically comprised of Sunni states who are also very wary of any nuclear accommodation with Iran, Makovsky said in a phone interview. Irans main regional rival, Saudi Arabia, is among the countries supporting U.S. action against Islamic State.
The relationship between Obama and Netanyahu has been marked over the years by some sharp disagreements on Mideast peacemaking. Ties were further strained by the collapse of U.S.- sponsored talks with the Palestinians in April and the Israeli military operation in Gaza in July and August that drew international criticism over civilian casualties.
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Netanyahu to Tell Obama Iran Concerns Trump Islamic State