Netanyahu: Everything’s Fine!

WASHINGTON — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made his most detailed comments yet here on Monday about his spat with the Obama administration, acknowledging tensions in the U.S.-Israel relationship but citing history and philosophy to argue that the countries’ bond will become even stronger — and showing little remorse for what some observers describe as the most notable breakdown in the relationship in decades.

“Our alliance is sound, our friendship is strong,” Netanyahu said, after describing disputes between the U.S. and Israel at multiple points since the founding of the Jewish state in 1948. “Despite occasional disagreements, the friendship between America and Israel grew stronger and stronger decade after decade, and our friendship will weather the current disagreement as well to grow even stronger in the future. And I’ll tell you why: because we share the same dreams, because we pray and hope and aspire for that same world.”

Netanyahu, as he presented himself as a defender not just of Israel but of a Jewish community that he said has struggled for 2,000 years, emphasized what he sees as being at stake in these negotiations — and hinted at his message against them that is to come Tuesday.

“I plan to speak about an Iranian regime that is threatening to destroy Israel, devouring country after country in the Middle East, that’s exporting terror around the world and is developing, as we speak, the capacity to make nuclear weapons — lots of them,” the prime minister said.

The Huffington Post