by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright February 16, 2015
All Rights Reserved.

                When 64-year-old Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu speaks to a joint session of Congress March 3 at the invitation of House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), he hopes to set the record straight about Iran’s nuclear ambitions.  Feverishly working on a nuclear deal with Iran, the P5+1, including the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, Netanyahu plans to raise doubts about the latest effort to slow Iran’s nuclear program.  Worried that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s real goals are to build Iran’s first A-bomb, Netanyahu plans to present evidence to Congress of Iran’s secret nuclear bomb-making facility.  Since ejecting U.N. nuclear inspectors March 14, 2004, the world  can only speculate on what’s really going on with Iran’s nuclear program.  Western officials, including Israel, doesn’t buy that Iran’s nuclear program is purely for peaceful purposes.

             Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared Iran a “nuclear state” Feb. 11, 2010, only five years after threatening to “wipe Israel off the map” Oct. 27, 2005.  Adding insult-to-injury, Ahmadinejad hosted a Holocaust deniers’ conference in Tehran Dec. 11, 2006 prompting Netanyahu to declare Iran an “existential threat.”  Netanyahu and other defense-minded Israeli conservatives see Iran handing a nuclear bomb to a terrorist group to finish off the Jewish State.  On Boehner’s invitation, Bibi hopes to reveal to the U.S. Congress why Iran cannot be trusted to stop its clandestine atomic bomb-making program.  On Oct. 7, 2014, Israel detected an underground nuclear detonation at Iran’s secret Parchin nuclear weapons test facility.  Closed to any U.N. inspectors and operating since 2004 without restraints, Israel believes Iran has worked feverishly on developing an A-bomb.

             Former Secretary of State Leon Panetta said he was “afraid” of the impact of Netanyahu’s March 3 speech on a joint session of Congress.  While boycotted by most of Democrats’ leadership for not running the event through the White House, Netanyahu’s no shrinking violet, intending to tell Congress and world what’s really going on with Iran’s secret nuclear program.  At the late stages of nailing down a nuclear deal with Tehran, Panetta doesn’t want Bibi to stir up a hornet’s nest in Congress on the eve of cutting a nuclear deal with Iran.  Netanyahu believes that no deal than a bad deal when it comes to Iran’s nuclear program.   “I’m afraid what is going to happen here with what Netanyahu will do is to make this partisan divide between Democrats and Republicans and that makes it a very dangerous trap,” said Panetta, knowing full-well that a partisan divide already exists.

            Conservatives on Capital Hill led by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, don’t want the U.S. to sign a deal with Iran that threatens Israel’s national security.  While everyone wants Iran to stop its nuclear military ambitions, it looks like the P5+1 negotiations turn a blind eye to what’s happening underground in Iran’s most sensitive military nuclear sites.  Instead of worrying about how Netanyahu’s speech impacts today’s negotiations, the Congress—and American public—need to know the real story.  Discounting Bibi’s speech as only partisan theatre, Panetta can’t see through Tehran’s smoke blowing.  Whatever prompted Boehner to invite Bibi to speak to a joint session of Congress, Democrats should be all ears trying to get a grip on what’s really at stake in Geneva.

             Boycotting Netanyahu’s speech makes Democrats look more partisan that Boehner’s decision to bypass the White House.  Embroiled in difficult negotiations, the White House wants a deal at all costs.  Netanyahu doesn’t want to spoil the White House plans, only give Congress a way of assessing whether or not a deal’s good for U.S. and Israeli national security.  Ending U.N. sanctions without guarantees that Iran is not working on an A-bomb invites Iran to go full-steam ahead.  Whether it’s inevitable that Iran gets the bomb is anyone’s guess.  Pushed into a deal by the P5+1, the White House needs to hear the facts before signing onto any deal.  If recent reports of Iran’s secret atomic weapons program turns out to be true, then lifting U.N. sanctions would be a serious mistake.  Reports by the International Business Times Nov. 24, 2014, point to Iran’s clandestine military program.

             Making a big deal about Netanyahu’s March 3 speech to a joint session of Congress speaks volumes about Democrats’ insecurities over the current nuclear deal with Iran.  It won’t take long to determine whether there’s anything knew presented by Netanyahu about Iran’s secret nuclear military ambitions.  If there’s nothing new, then Republicans will have to give Kerry the benefit of the doubt as he hammers out the best deal with Tehran.  Fear of Iran as an “existential threat” can’t deter the P5+1 from nailing down a nuclear deal that forces Tehran into greater accountability.  More talk by Netanyahu about past incendiary Iranian statements isn’t enough to scuttle a nuclear deal that makes Iran more accountable.  If Netanyahu offers proof of Iran’s secret military nuclear program, the White House will have to take a second look before signing onto the P5+1’s new nuclear pact.

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