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Arab Commentators Back Netanyahu On Speech To Congress
Neatanyahu said that "even of Israel has to stand alone - Israel will stand."
Source: Western Journalism
On
the eve of the Purim festival, Israel watched Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu
deliver a historical speech to the U.S. Congress on Iran. The speech was
broadcasted on all Israeli TV Channels, albeit with a five-minute delay to make
sure there was no ‘electioneering’ in what Netanyahu told Congress. Israel will
hold elections in another two weeks.
In
his speech, Netanyahu evoked the upcoming Purim festival, when the book of
Ester is read and Jews commemorate the first attempt to commit genocide on the
Jewish people by the Persian King Ahasueres (Ahasveros), who acted on the advice
of his personal advisor Haman. Netanyahu compared this attempt to annihilate
the Jewish people to the vows to destroy the Jewish state made by contemporary
Iranian leaders.
Netanyahu
said that “even if Israel has to stand alone – Israel will stand.”
Right
after Netanyahu’s speech, commentators on Israeli TV highlighted the Arab and
Iranian response to the event.
Tzvi
Yechezkieli, the Arab affairs expert of Channel 10, said that many Arab
commentators supported the content of Netanyahu’s speech. He cited a
commentator on Al-Arabiya TV, who had said that he could have written a large
part of the speech.
Yechezkieli
said that the Arab countries are convinced that Obama will not safeguard their
security interests in the current negotiations with Iran and will not protect
them against Iranian aggression.
Yesterday,
Faisal J. Abbas, the powerful Editor-in-Chief of Al Arabiya English, published
an editorial under the headline: “President Obama, listen to Netanyahu on
Iran.” Abbas’ editorial was a reaction to Netanyahu’s speech to AIPAC
yesterday.
He
wrote: “In just a few words, Mr. Netanyahu managed to accurately summarize a
clear and present danger, not just to Israel (which obviously is his concern),
but to other U.S. allies in the region.”
The
Saudi Daily Al-Jazirah published an
article written by Dr. Ahmad Al-Faraj, who supported Netanyahu’s decision
to speak to the U.S. Congress against the upcoming deal with Iran. He called
Obama “one of the worst American presidents” and said that Netanyahu’s campaign
against the deal is justified because it also serves the interests of the Gulf
States.
Here
is a quote from Al-Faraj’s article:
“I will conclude by saying the
following: Since Obama is the godfather of the prefabricated revolutions in the
Arab world, and since he is the ally of political Islam, [which is] the caring
mother of [all] the terrorist organizations, and since he is working to sign an
agreement with Iran that will come at the expense of the U.S.’s longtime allies
in the Gulf, I am very glad of Netanyahu’s firm stance and [his decision] to
speak against the nuclear agreement at the American Congress despite the Obama
administration’s anger and fury. I believe that Netanyahu’s conduct will serve
our interests, the people of the Gulf, much more than the foolish behavior of
one of the worst American presidents. Do you agree with me?”
Israeli
TV Channel 10 reported that the speech was broadcasted in Iran up to the point
where Netanyahu started to highlight the aggression of the regime. Oded Granot,
the Arab affairs expert of Channel 1, predicted that the regime in Tehran would
not respond to the speech because of the ongoing talks with the U.S. in Geneva.
Channel 1 also broadcasted recent statements by Iranian officials directed
against the United States and President Obama.
Commentators
heaped praise on Netanyahu for highlighting the support from President Obama
for Israel on several occasions.
Others
compared Netanyahu’s grace toward Obama to Obama’s churlishness toward the
Israeli PM. They said that the Prime Minister had outsmarted Obama: Obama warned
against leaking secrets, and Netanyahu said you can Google it. Obama said ‘my
way or war’–and Netanyahu said: “Just get a better deal.”
Opposition
members were careful not to criticize the Israeli premier about the content of
the speech but insisted that the timing was wrong. They also claimed that
relations with the U.S. were damaged because of Netanyahu’s insistence in
delivering the speech while the P5+1 countries were negotiating with Iran over
a deal–and because the speech was delivered two weeks before the Israeli
elections.
Zionist
Union leader Herzog reacted to the speech while visiting the border communities
in the Gaza area. He said that the speech will not stop Iran’s drive for
nuclear weapons and will not influence U.S. policy towards Iran. He continued,
saying that the speech will leave Israel more isolated and that Netanyahu’s
action has damaged ties with the United States.
Zionist
Union is the name of the combined list of the Labor party and the Hatnua party,
led by former Minister of Justice and Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni. The party
leads in most polls.
David
Horowitz, the editor-in-chief of the Times of Israel and former editor-in-chief
of The Jerusalem Post, wrote
that the speech was a “devastating assault on Obama.” Horowitz continued: “The
Israeli PM explained the President’s profound misjudgment of Iran – its
ideology, its goals, and the immense danger it constitutes to Israel, the
region, the United States, and the world – that lies at the heart of the very
bad emerging deal between the US-led P5+1 negotiators and Iran.”
It
is widely expected that the speech will have a positive effect on Netanyahu’s
electoral prospects. Many Israelis will be asking themselves whether, in the
current difficult circumstances, they can vote for Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni
of the Zionist Union. Both lack the political experience of Netanyahu and are
not trusted when it comes to Israel’s security.
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