Contrary to opinions rendered by President Barack H. Obama, there was plenty new in Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's speech on Iran, said officials in Israel Thursday. The sources told Channel Two that the Prime Minister offered a credible alternative to Obama's current Iran policy that would more successfully contain the Islamic Republic's nuclear development program.
Obama said Wednesday that he “didn't have time” to watch Netanyahu's speech, but that he had read the transcript and not noticed “anything new” in the Prime Minister's comments. “On the core issue, which is how to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon which would make it far more dangerous, the prime minister did not offer any viable alternatives,” Obama said in comments from the Oval Office. “We don't yet have a deal. But if we are successful, this will be the best deal possible with Iran to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon,” he stated.
“I am not focused in the politics of this, I am not focused on the theater,” Obama sniped. "As far as I can tell, there was nothing new.”
But Obama is wrong, the sources said. Unlike the plan under negotiation now, Netanyahu's plan would require real action – not just promises – from Iran for the removal of economic sanctions. In addition, the Netanyahu plan would require Iran to discuss ancillary aspects of Iran's nuclear efforts, including its development of long-range missiles to deliver nuclear weapons, that could easily strike Israel – or even the US. In his speech Wednesday, Netanyahu pointed out that the missile development program was not even on the agenda for talks between Western powers and Iran.