Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasts 'nightmare' Iran pact framework, vows to 'kill' deal
President Obama (r.) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (l.) have repeatedly clashed over the Iran negotiations. On Sunday, Netanyahu called the tentative framework agreement reached last week "a dream deal for Iran and a nightmare deal for the world."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued his assault Sunday on the tentative deal the U.S. and five world powers reached with Iran last week over Tehran’s nuclear program, slamming the agreement as “very bad” and saying he would “try to kill” it.
During a trio of appearances on political talk shows, Netanyahu pushed his case that the deal wouldn’t do much to limit Iran’s capacity to eventually create an arsenal of nuclear weapons, would endanger the existence of Israel and could spark an arms race in the Middle East.
“I think this is a dream deal for Iran and it’s a nightmare deal for the world," Netanyahu said on NBC's "Meet The Press," adding during a later appearance on CNN that Tehran is “getting a free path to the bomb.”
“In an ideal situation, you wouldn't have countries seeking to annihilate the state of Israel,” he said on NBC. “The real problem in the Middle East is … countries like Iran that pursue nuclear weapons with the explicit goal first of annihilating us, but also ultimately of conquering the Middle East and threatening you.”
"It would spark an arms race among the Sunni states, a nuclear arms race in the Middle East," the Israeli leader warned. "And the Middle East crisscrossed with nuclear tripwires is a nightmare for the world.”
Under the current framework, the U.S. and five world powers would lift severe economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for imposing limits on nuclear material and technology that could be used to make a weapon. Iran would also have to allow in international monitors to closely watch over the program.
Netanyahu Presses U.S. to Seek Better Deal on Iran: CNN
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Netanyahu, who has been consistently vocal in his opposition to the ongoing negotiations, reiterated that he would try “to kill a bad deal.”
Nevertheless, he was hard-pressed to offer an alternative to talks with Iran — a conundrum for which President Obama and his staff have repeatedly called out the Israeli premier.
“I think the alternatives are not either this bad deal or war. I think there’s a third alternative. And that is standing firm, ratcheting up the pressure until you get a better deal,” he said, responding to Obama’s assertion last week that the only other option, in the absence of talks, is war.
Netanyahu, however, did not explain what kind of deal he might ultimately support, saying on ABC’s “This Week” only that “there’s still time to reach a good deal, a better deal,.”
At least one prominent Senate Democrat quickly blasted Netanyahu’s stubbornness on the issue.
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California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein said she "(wished) that he (Netanyahu) would contain himself, because he has put out no real alternative."
“I wish that he would contain himself, because he has put out no real alternative,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the vice chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said of Netanyahu on CNN’s “State of the Union.” "I don’t think it's helpful for Israel to come out and oppose this one opportunity to change a major dynamic – which is downhill – in this part of the world.”
“I think that this kind of absolutist, ‘Well, no deal is better than a bad deal, but we don't know what a good deal would be’ and ‘No we have no suggestions’ is not very helpful, candidly,” Feinstein said, warning that Netanyahu’s rhetoric might ultimately “backfire" on him.
But a long list of congressional and Senate Republicans were quick to defend Netanyahu, with Long Island Rep. Peter King, a possible 2016 presidential candidate, saying Sunday on FOX News that “we went into this to take away Iran’s nuclear power, but now we’re institutionalizing it.”
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, another possible presidential candidate, ripped Obama as a “flawed” negotiator.
“I don’t want a war, but I also don’t want to give Iran the tools to attack the Middle East and one day us,” Graham said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “I believe there is a better deal.”
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham ripped Obama as a "flawed" negotiator.
MANUEL BALCE CENETA/AP
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham ripped Obama as a "flawed" negotiator.
“It’s only the best deal Barack Obama could get,” he said. “Does anyone really believe that the Iranians will take the billions of dollars we give them and build hospitals and schools?”
Meanwhile, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, reiterated his belief that any deal must go through Congress before being enacted.
“Congress has a rightful role to play in this,” he said on “Fox News Sunday.” “That doesn’t mean there won’t be a deal. We just set in place a process to ensure that if there’s a deal, it’s a deal that will stand a test of time that will keep Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.”
Corker has said his committee was slated to take up legislation after the current congressional recess that would give lawmakers the power to approve or reject the deal.
The White House has repeatedly warned, however, that doing so could wind up destroying a deal altogether.