March 03, 2015

A Silver Lining in Netanyahu’s Thundering Speech

Source: Foreign Policy

Journalist: Yochi Dreazen

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used a nationally televised address to Congress on Tuesday to liken the Iranian government to the Nazis, say Tehran was responsible for hundreds of American deaths, accuse Iran of fomenting unrest throughout the Middle East, and warn that the country would do everything in its power to break whatever nuclear agreement emerged from its talks with the White House.

Rhetoric aside, though, the Israeli leader may have signaled, subtly, that his country could live with a U.S.-Iran nuclear deal, provided that a key element of the emerging agreement was changed. It’s unclear whether the White House would be willing to attempt to reopen that portion of the negotiations with Iran — and it seems unlikely that Tehran would accept such a change — but the Israeli prime minister’s speech was as notable for what it didn’t include as for what it did.

Read the full article in Foreign Policy.

Author

  • Ilan Goldenberg

    Former Senior Fellow and Director, Middle East Security Program

    Ilan Goldenberg is the former Senior Fellow and Director of the Middle East Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. He is a foreign policy and defense expe...