fbpx

Netanyahu on U.S. news shows calls for red line on Iran [VIDEO]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to American news shows to push for red lines on Iran\'s nuclear program.
[additional-authors]
September 16, 2012

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to American news shows to push for red lines on Iran's nuclear program.

Netanyahu appeared Sunday on NBC's “Meet the Press” in a pre-recorded interview.

“Iran is guided by a leadership with an unbelievable fanaticism,” Netanyahu told host David Gregory. “It's the same fanaticism that you see storming your embassies today. You want these fanatics to have nuclear weapons?”

Iranian fanatics, he adds, “put their zealotry above survival.”

Netanyahu also decried American columnists and commentators who have said that an Iran with nuclear weapons could stabilize the Middle East. They have “set a new standard for human stupidity,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu told CNN's “State of the Union” in a pre-recorded interview that demanding red lines on Iran now is not an “electoral issue.”

“There is a common interest of all Americans of all political persuasions to stop Iran,” he said.

The prime minister also said on both programs that he would not be “dragged” into the U.S. elections. When Gregory pressed him to refute critics who have charged President Obama with having “thrown Israel under the bus,” Netanyahu said, “There is no bus.”

Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor, who is responsible for nuclear and intelligence affairs, told Israel Radio on Sunday that the United States should consider stopping Iran's nuclear weapons program sooner rather than later.

“When is the point at which it should be stopped? Just when the bomb is assembled on the tip of the missile and is ready for launch?” he asked.

Meridor said it should be before Iran reaches the stage where it can decide to make a nuclear-tipped weapon in a short amount of time, whenever it wants, even years from now.

“Even an Iran that is a decision away from nuclear weaponry, be it within days or weeks, is a nuclear-armed Iran,” he said.

<iframe width=”540″ height=”304″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/4pLuzRSFVps” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.

Editor's Picks

Latest Articles

Difficult Choices

Jews have always believed in the importance of higher education. Today, with the rise in antisemitism across many college campuses, Jewish high school seniors are facing difficult choices.

All Aboard the Lifeboat

These are excruciating times for Israel, and for the Jewish people.  It is so tempting to succumb to despair. That is why we must keep our eyes open and revel in any blessing we can find.  

More news and opinions than at a
Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.