History will ”salute” the United States for condemning Iran’s nuclear weapons plans, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told Congress Tuesday.
He drove home to the legislators the danger of Iran’s obtaining nuclear capability by stating, "I want you to understand what this means. They could put the bomb anywhere. They could put it on a missile. It could be on a container ship in a port, or in a suitcase on a subway.
“Now the threat to my country cannot be overstated. Those who dismiss it are sticking their heads in the sand.”
The Prime Minister said that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad “spews venom” by denying the Holocaust and the butchering of six million Jews.” He added that he “should be banned from every forum on the planet.”
Worse than Ahmadinejad’s outrage is the world's “lack of outrage,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said in his speech, the second time he has been awarded the privilege of addressing a joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate, “It is even worse because there are many who rush to condemn Israel for defending itself against Iran’s terror proxies,” he continued.
"But not you. Not America.”
He said, “History will salute you, America” for condemning Iran. He noted that although U.S. President Barack Obama said that the United States is determined to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, Congress passed even tougher sanctions than authorized by President Obama.
The only time Iran suspended its nuclear program was in 2003 when the Ayatollah feared a military attack, the Prime Minister stated. “The more Iran believes that all options are on the table, the less the chance of confrontation.
“As for Israel, if history has taught the Jewish people anything, it is that we must take calls for our destruction seriously. We are a nation that rose from the ashes of the Holocaust. When we say ‘never again,’ we mean never again. Israel always reserves the right to defend itself.
Prime Minister Netanyahu smoothly moved to the issue of the Palestinian Authority by continuing his declaration of the need for Israel to defend itself.
Remarking that he was nearly killed in the Suez Canal by Egyptian soldiers, he said that Israel’s removal of hundreds of roadblocks has helped the Palestinian Authority economy grow by 10 percent a year, but that PA leaders’ refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state indicates they want a peace agreement to continue the conflict with Israel and not to solve it.
Regarding the recent unity agreement between Fatah movement leader PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas, Prime Minister Netanyahu stated, “Hamas is not a partner for peace. Hamas remains committed to Israel's destruction and to terrorism.
“They have a charter. That charter not only calls for the obliteration of Israel, but says ‘kill the Jews wherever you find them.’… Israel is prepared to sit down today and negotiate peace with the Palestinian Authority… But Israel will not negotiate with a Palestinian government backed by the Palestinian version of Al Qaeda.”