President Obama gives exclusive interview to Reuters on his Iran policy. (photo credit: Reuters)
(Washington, D.C.) — Greetings from the AIPAC Policy Conference. AIPAC stands for the “American Israel Public Affairs Committee.” I have been to many of these over the past 25 years in Washington. But this is one for the ages.
There was a tumultuous reception here this morning for Israel’s Prime Minister from the 16,000 delegates. I lost track of the number of standing ovations. It was moving to be a part of (Israeli leaders rarely receive standing O’s anywhere else in the world, including in Israel.) The Prime Minister thanked America for our long-standing strategic alliance and called for bipartisanship in preventing Iran from building The Bomb.
Please be praying for the PM, his wife Sara and his team as they prepare for the speech to the Joint Session of Congress on Tuesday at 11am eastern. Thanks. I have been invited to attend the speech, and hope to provide details and analysis via Twitter, and later on this blog and in various media interviews.
For now I can tell you there is so much political tension and spiritual warfare in this city. We really need to be faithfully praying for Israel’s leaders, as well as for America’s leaders — for wisdom and discernment and for healing between our governments.
We are witnessing the most dramatic and unsettling clash in the 66 year history of the U.S.-Israel relationship.
President Obama is setting the stage for an historic and painful showdown — not with our enemy, Iran, but with our best friend and ally in the Middle East, Israel.
The President is signaling he is ready to give Iranian leaders most of what they want in the nuclear negotiations, and that he has no intention of meeting with Israel’s top leaders or listening to their deep concerns.
Prime Minister Netanyahu is signaling that he believes the nuclear deal is an historic mistake that threatens the very survival of Israel. He’s also making it clear that he will do everything he possibly can to persuade Congress to reject this emerging deal because it would put Iran on the path to legally building The Bomb.
And now a top Senate Democrat is now blasting the Obama administration over the wrong and dangerous path it is headed down regarding Iran.
“When it comes to defending the US-Israel relationship, I am not intimidated by anyone—not Israel’s political enemies, and not by my political friends when I believe they’re wrong,” Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) said today. “As long as I have an ounce of fight left in me, as long as I have a vote and a say and a chance to protect the interest of Israel, the region, and the national security interests of the United States—Iran will never have a pathway to a weapon. It will never threaten Israel or its neighbors, and it will never be in a position to start a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. Not on my watch.”
Menendez added: ““Here we are, near the end of negotiations, and the goal posts have moved from dismantlement to reconfiguration. From a peaceful nuclear program to just enough to detect break out. From no right-to-enrichment to getting an alarm system.
More analysis soon. For now, let me give you links to several of the key speeches and news stories:
- President Obama gave an exclusive interview to Reuters on Monday. (To read the full interview, please click here.)
- Samantha Power, the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., addressed the AIPAC conference on Monday. (To read the full speech, please click here.)
- Susan Rice, the President’s National Security Advisor, address AIPAC on Monday. (To read the full speech, please click here.)
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also addressed AIPAC on Monday as a warm up to the address to Congress. (To read the full speech, please click here.)
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