Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted President Joe Biden in his final speech on Sunday, comparing the Biden administration’s decision to court Iran for a revived nuclear agreement to the “US neglect of European Jews during the Holocaust,” according to the Jerusalem Post.
Netanyahu was expected to deliver a 15-minute speech to the Israeli Knesset on Sunday but went on for more than half an hour, before turning over control of the government to a coalition led by Naftali Bennett.
“Netanyahu described Bennett, who was once his ally, as a political lightweight who does not have the talent to handle the job,” Fox News reported Sunday.
Netanyahu then turned his fire on the Biden administration, whom he claimed had asked him “not to discuss our disagreement on Iran publicly.”
“The administration in Washington asked me not to discuss our disagreement on Iran publicly, but with all due respect, I can’t do that,” Netanyahu said. “I told them I won’t act that way.”
He began by recalling the plight to convince then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt that the Jewish people were being targeted and systematically exterminated by the Nazis.
“In 1944, at the height of the Holocaust, US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt refused to bomb the railway leading to the extermination camps and refused to bomb the gas chambers, which could have saved millions of our people. We hoped for others to save us, and they didn’t come. In the face of the threat of extermination, we were helpless,” Netanyahu said, drawing a comparison to the modern-day. “Our voice was not heard among the nations. We had neither a state or an army. But today we do have a voice. We do have a state, and we do have defensive power.”
“I’ve heard what Bennett said [about standing firm against Iran], and I’m concerned, because Bennett does the opposite of what he promises,” Netanyahu added, according to the New York Post, recalling Bennett’s pledge to continue Netanyahu’s policies in regards to the Iranian threat.
“Bennett took a hard line on the Iran deal in his speech, saying it was a mistake in 2015 and remains one today,” according to Axios. “He also thanked Biden for his support for Israel, stressed that he wants good relations with both parties in Washington, and drew a contrast with Netanyahu by promising that any disagreements with Biden will be managed with ‘mutual trust and respect.’”
Netanyahu used his speech, though to warn that Bennett does not have “the international stature, the knowledge, the government or the public’s trust to be taken seriously when fighting the Iranian threat,” suggesting that Bennett will not stand up to the Biden administration’s diplomatic ambitions.
“An Israeli prime minister has to be able to say no to the president of the US on matters that endanger our existence. I’ll be happy if this doesn’t come true, but from the moment the US returns to the Iran Deal, this government will not approve operations against Iran to stop their armament,” Netanyahu said.
To conclude, though, Netanyahu pledged to return to power — a pledge that could come to fruition if Bennett’s tenuous coalition government fails to hold together.
“I have just one, modest request,” Netanyahu warned. “Try to ruin the economy that we are leaving you as little as possible so that we can fix it as quickly as possible when we return to power.”
The incoming Bennett administration tried to smooth over relations with the United States following Netanyahu’s speech, according to a report from Fox, which noted that “Bennett’s office said he later spoke by phone with Biden, thanking him for his warm wishes and longstanding commitment to Israel’s security.”
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Source: Dailywire
