Netanyahu: Obama Has No Moral Right to Stop Israel from Iran Attack
Tuesday, 11 Sep 2012 10:36 AM
The White House has
rejected a request by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to meet President
Barack Obama in the United States this month, an Israeli official said on
Tuesday, after a row erupted between the allies over Iran's nuclear programme.
An Israeli official told Reuters on condition of anonymity that
Netanyahu's aides had asked for a meeting when he visits the United Nations
this month, and "the White House
has got back to us and said it appears a meeting is not possible. It said that
the president's schedule will
not permit that".
Netanyahu, who has met Obama on all his U.S. trips since 2009, has been
pushing him to adopt a tougher line against Iran.
He argues that setting a clear boundary for Iran's uranium enrichment
activities and imposing stronger economic sanctions could deter Tehran from
developing nuclear weapons and mitigate the need for military action.
In comments that appeared to bring the possibility of an Israeli attack
on Iran closer, Netanyahu had earlier taken Washington to
task for rebuffing his call to set a "red
line" for Iran's nuclear programme, which has already prompted four rounds of
U.N. sanctions.
"The world
tells Israel 'wait, there's still time'. And I say, 'Wait for what? Wait until
when?'" said Netanyahu, speaking in English.
"Those in the
international community who refuse to put red lines before Iran don't have a
moral right to place a red light before Israel," he added, addressing
a news conference with Bulgaria's prime minister.
"UNPRECEDENTED
ATTACK"
The website of Israel's daily newspaper Haaretz called his words "an unprecedented verbal attack on the U.S.
government".
Iran makes no secret of its hostility to Israel, widely assumed to be
the region's only nuclear-armed power, but says its nuclear programme is purely
peaceful.
Netanyahu's relations with Obama have been strained over Iran and other
issues, such as Jewish settlement building in the occupied West
Bank.
But he has never framed his differences with Obama - who has pledged he
will "always have Israel's
back" and is deep in a re-election campaign - in moral terms.
Republican
challenger Mitt Romney has accused Obama of throwing Israel "under the
bus".
Netanyahu's comments followed U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's
remarks on Monday that the United States would not set a deadline in further
talks with Iran, and that there was still time for diplomacy to work.
Diplomats have also said six world powers - including the United States
- are poised to voice "serious
concern" about Iran's uranium enrichment programme and to urge it to
open up access to
nuclear sites.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Tuesday that Washington
would have little more than a year to act to stop Iran if it decided to produce
a nuclear weapon.
Iran has threatened to retaliate against Israel and U.S. interests in
the Gulf if it is attacked, and any such conflict could throw Obama's
re-election bid off course.
DEADLINE
Netanyahu did not mention Clinton by name but pointedly parroted her use
of the word "deadline", saying:
"If Iran knows
that there is no 'deadline', what will it do? Exactly what
it's doing. It's continuing, without any interference, towards obtaining a
nuclear weapons capability and from there, nuclear bombs ..
"So far we can
say with certainty that diplomacy and sanctions haven't worked. The sanctions
have hurt the Iranian economy but they haven't stopped the Iranian nuclear
programme. That's a fact. And the fact is that every day that passes,
Iran gets closer and closer to nuclear bombs."
Recent tougher Israeli rhetoric has stoked speculation that Israel might
attack Iran before the U.S. election in November, believing that Obama would be
forced to give it military help to avoid alienating pro-Israeli voters.
But over the past week, Netanyahu, in calling for a "red
line", had appeared to be backing away from military action and preparing
the ground for a possible meeting with Obama.
Opinion polls suggest that a majority of Israelis do not want their
military to strike Iran without U.S. support.
Defence Minister Ehud Barak seemed to criticise Netanyahu's assault on
the Jewish state's biggest ally.
"Despite the
differences and importance of maintaining Israel's independence of action, we
must remember the importance of partnership with the United States and try as
much as possible not to hurt that," a statement from his office said.
© 2012 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.
