After reiterating the U.S.'s bond with Israel, Leader Pelosi said the following:
“That is why, as one who values the U.S. – Israel relationship, and loves Israel, I was near tears throughout the Prime Minister’s speech – saddened by the insult to the intelligence of the United States as part of the P5 +1 nations, and saddened by the condescension toward our knowledge of the threat posed by Iran and our broader commitment to preventing nuclear proliferation.
Netanyahu was almost flip when he sought to assuage fears that collapse of these negotiations would inevitably mean war, arguing that all we have to do to get a better deal is impose a few more sanctions and the Iranians will cave and come running back to the table to surrender completely their enrichment capacity. Netanyahu would have us believe that the regime in Iran that allegedly cannot be deterred, that is completely irrational, and would gladly suffer nuclear annihilation just for the opportunity to attack Israel, will surrender everything in these negotiations in the face of sanctions that could shave another few percent off their GDP. According to Netanyahu, the mullahs don't fear nuclear annihilation, but they panic at the prospect of an economic recession.
Insulting, indeed. Condescension, indeed.
Bibi Netanyahu either thinks we are idiots or he is the most dangerously deluded leader on the world stage today. It's one or the other.
11:21 AM PT: Paul Waldman at the Washington Post makes a similar observation regarding the utter incoherence of Netanyahu's "strategy":
So where would that leave things? Netanyahu argues that if the U.S. walked away, Iran would eventually capitulate on everything; the “better deal” he imagined is one in which Iran does everything short of dismantling its government. He had nothing to say about why this might happen if we weren’t negotiating, other than that we should “keep up the pressure.” That’s his alternative: Do nothing, and instead of just going ahead and developing nuclear weapons, Iran will see the light and completely reverse everything it’s been doing.
To call that position “absurd” is too kind. You don’t have to be some kind of foreign policy whiz to grasp that there’s something weird about arguing that 1) Iran is a nation run by genocidal maniacs; 2) they want nuclear weapons so they can annihilate Israel; and 3) the best way to stop this is to abandon negotiations to limit their nuclear program and just wait to see what they do. But that’s the position Netanyahu and his supporters in the Republican Party are now committed to.
1:05 PM PT: Here's the real irony: while Bibi is over here touting the Iranian threat as an existential crisis, 90% of Israelis just shrug their shoulders. The Times of Israel released a poll a few weeks ago on the upcoming Knesset elections. It asked respondents which issue mattered to them most. 48% said economic issues. 19% said relations with the Palestinians. 14% said education. The "existential" threat from Iran came in fourth at 10%.