“Iran envelopes the entire world in its tentacles of terror,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the approximately 16,000 people gathered at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference. “Imagine what Iran would do with nuclear weapons. And this same Iran vows to annihilate Israel.”
“If it develops nuclear weapons, it would have the means to achieve that goal,” he said. “We must not let that happen." At this the crowd gave him a standing ovation.
“I have a moral obligation to speak up in the face of these dangers while there is still time to avert them,” he said. “For 2,000 years my people, the Jewish people, were stateless, defenseless, voiceless.”
“Today, we are no longer silent,” said Netanyahu. “Today we have a voice. And tomorrow, as prime minister of the one and only Jewish state, I plan to use that voice.”
Netanyahu’s visit to the U.S. has caused controversy when it emerged that he was invited to speak before Congress by Speaker of the House John Boehner instead of by the Obama administration. Netanyahu addressed the controversy by saying, “My speech is not intended to show any disrespect to President Obama or the esteemed office that he holds. I have great respect for both.”
“The Obama administration has invested more than $20 billion in foreign military financing for Israel, for more than for any other country and more than at any previous time in the history of the U.S.-Israel relationship," said Netanyahu.
“The United States of America will not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon. Period,” said Obama’s ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, today at AIPAC.