Posted on 03/06/2012 3:18:17 PM PST by SmithL
WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama has asked Israel to give diplomacy a chance before deciding on an attack on Iranian nuclear sites to curb the Islamic republic's atomic ambitions but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu retorted that his country must be the "master of its fate".
Obama made the appeal to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday when the two leaders held talks in the White House on the Iranian nuclear standoff.
"We do believe there is still a window that allows for a diplomatic resolution to this issue," Obama said.
But Netanyahu showed no sign of backing away from a possible military action and said his "supreme responsibility as prime minister of Israel is to ensure that Israel remains the master of its fate".
"We've waited for diplomacy to work. We've waited for sanctions to work. None of us can afford to wait much longer," Netanyahu told a gathering of a powerful pro-Israel lobbying group after his meeting with Obama.
"It is time to talk about the cost of not stopping Iran."
Reuters quoted an unnamed source, privy to the Obama-Netanyahu talks saying that the Israeli prime minister told Obama that his country retained right to resort to military action against Iran even as Israel was yet to decide whether to hit Iran's nuclear sites or not.
The Monday meeting and the Netanyahu's public posturing indicated that the two countries were no close to an agreement over the issue.
He said because of some of the outrageous concessions this administration is demanding, Israel has literally walked away from the table.
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We've waited for diplomacy to work. We've waited for sanctions to work. None of us can afford to wait much longer
Actually everyone other than Israel can afford to wait, it's Jews being targeted. First in Israel.
Gee, what a surprise.
I don’t know any inside info, but just from what is in the public domain, I am surprised that Bibi is still willing to talk. He is clearly a better man than I.
At least we can take comfort in Bibi’s superior understanding of the true heart of the American Citizenry. I am confident he recognizes things could change next January.
PS: Re your tagline: #Iowahawk2012 !
I think Bibi gave his (Jewish) audience an idea on how likely Israel is to attack Iran by his references to Queen Esther. Remember her? She had a choice between doing something suicidal (going in to see the king without having been called by him) or the destruction of the Jews. What did she say: I’ll go and if I perish, I perish (my transliteration). That’s exactly the message the audience heard last night. I think Israel is about to do something as suicidal as Esther did, but given the alternative, Bibi said “if I perish, I perish”.
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