OBAMA SAYS NO TO ISRAEL’S ‘RIGHT TO EXIST’ CLAUSE IN IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL FRAMEWORK
DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL DISMISSED A PLEA FRIDAY FROM ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU THAT THE IRAN NUCLEAR AGREEMENT INCLUDE CLEAR RECOGNITION OF HIS NATION’S “RIGHT TO EXIST,” DECLARING NEGOTIATIONS ARE “ONLY ABOUT THE NUCLEAR ISSUE.”
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf, in a terse response to a question about Netanyahu’s concerns, told reporters, “This is an agreement that is only about the nuclear issue” — a comment that indicates the Obama administration is not looking to enshrine Israel’s security into a final agreement.
Harf, for her part, suggested the talks are complicated enough already. “This is an agreement that doesn’t deal with any other issues, nor should it,” she said.
Obama administration officials have insisted all along that despite their public disagreement with Netanyahu over the Iran deal framework, the U.S. commitment to Israel’s security is unwavering. Further, White House spokesman Eric Schultz told reporters on Air Force One on Friday that the U.S. would not agree to any deal that would threaten Israel.
The Israeli prime minister, though, made the call for the “right to exist” measure during brief remarks early Friday. He blasted the Iran framework deal and said his Cabinet is uniformly opposed to it. He closed his brief address by demanding that any final agreement include “a clear and unambiguous Iranian recognition of Israel’s right to exist.”
The statement was prompted by reported statements from a top Iranian military official, who was quoted saying “erasing Israel” off the map is “non-negotiable.”
To that, Netanyahu said: “The survival of Israel is non-negotiable.”
Israel’s objections promise to be a major hurdle for the Obama administration as its representatives huddle with those from Iran and five other world powers in pursuit of a final deal by a June 30 deadline. source
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O God, do not remain silent;
do not turn a deaf ear,
do not stand aloof, O God.
2
See how your enemies growl,
how your foes rear their heads.
3
With cunning they conspire against your people;
they plot against those you cherish.
4
“Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation,
so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.”
5
With one mind they plot together;
they form an alliance against you—
6
the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
of Moab and the Hagrites,
7
Byblos, Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia, with the people of Tyre.
8
Even Assyria has joined them
to reinforce Lot’s descendants.[b]
9
Do to them as you did to Midian,
as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon,
10
who perished at Endor
and became like dung on the ground.
11
Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,
all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12
who said, “Let us take possession
of the pasturelands of God.”
13
Make them like tumbleweed, my God,
like chaff before the wind.
14
As fire consumes the forest
or a flame sets the mountains ablaze,
15
so pursue them with your tempest
and terrify them with your storm.
16
Cover their faces with shame, Lord,
so that they will seek your name.
17
May they ever be ashamed and dismayed;
may they perish in disgrace.
18
Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord—
that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.
(Proverbs 29:11)
from Iran, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza
Naqdi.
leads the Basij volunteer force, made the declaration
to mark Islamic Republic Day in Tehran on Tuesday.
March/April 2015.
“Wiping Israel off the map is not up for negotiation,”
he said according to Kol Yisrael radio.
Israel before, saying in 2014 that Iran was supplying
weapons to Palestinians in the West Bank. Mohammad
Reza Naqdi has wants to ‘wipe Israel off the map’
“burning of the White House” and the hanging of US
commanders would atone for the alleged burning of
the Koran at an American military base in Afghanistan.
a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden them-
selves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people
of the earth be gathered together against it.