Monday at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his speech tomorrow before Congress is “not intended to show any disrespect” to President Barack Obama but he feels the “disagreement” between the United States and Israel over how to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon is so essential to the survival of Israel, he must speak.
Netanyahu remarked on the decades long, strong bond between America and Israel by saying, “We are family. Disagreements in a family are always uncomfortable but we must always remember we are family.”
In addressing the controversy over his speech to Congress, Netanyahu said, “I bring news to you that you might not have heard. I will be speaking at Congress tomorrow. Never has so much been written about a speech that hasn’t been given and I would like to speak today about the content of that speech but I do want to say a few words about the purpose of the speech. First let me clarify what is not the purpose of that speech. My speech is not intended to show any disrespect to President Obama or the office that he holds. I have great respect for both.”
“I deeply appreciate all the President Obama has done for Israel, security cooperation, intelligence sharing, support in the UN and much more that are in the confidences that are kept between the American president and of the Israeli prime minister,” he added. :I am greatly deeply appreciative and so should you be. My speech is also not intended to inject Israel into the American partisan debate and an important reason why our alliance has gone grown stronger decade after decade is that it is the champion by both parties and so it must remain.”
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