Netanyahu: Iran Deal Could Mean End of Israel

Prime minister isn't swayed by Obama
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 2, 2015 7:22 PM CDT
Netanyahu: Iran Deal Could Mean End of Israel
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks in Jerusalem.   (AP Photo/Debbie Hill, Pool)

President Obama called Benjamin Netanyahu after today's progress toward a deal with Iran about its nuclear program and tried to convince him that it was good news. How'd that go? Afterward, Netanyahu held a press conference. "A deal based on this framework would threaten the survival of Israel," he said, as quoted by the Wall Street Journal. "This deal would legitimize Iran’s nuclear program, bolster Iran's economy, and increase Iran's aggression and terror throughout the Middle East and beyond." It "would not block Iran's path to the bomb," he added. "It would pave it."

Which is to say, the prime minister wants much stricter terms before the final deal is sealed in three months. But as the AP notes, the deal—or at least this framework of the deal to come—is largely being embraced around the world, which will make it difficult for Israel to drum up opposition: "His best bet could lie with the Republican-dominated US Congress." Those interested in a breakdown of today's deal in "plain English" can check out a primer at Vox. (More Benjamin Netanyahu stories.)

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