Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday used U.S. Sen. David Perdue's trip to Israel – the Georgia freshman's first official visit abroad – to push back on the White House's contention that his country isn't fully in the loop when it comes to nuclear negotiations with Iran.
First, the background, from our subscription site:
In extraordinary admissions that reflect increasingly strained ties between the two allies, the White House and State Department also complained that Israeli officials had misrepresented what they had been told.
Now the YouTube video released by Israel:
Said Netanyahu:
"The Iranians, of course, know the details of that proposal – and Israel does, too. So when we say the current proposal would lead to a bad deal, a dangerous deal, we know what we're talking about, senator."
In his reply, Perdue said he purposely chose Israel for his first overseas trip, but hewed to a non-controversial line:
"The current negotiations are headed toward a March deadline. And I hope that we get a resolution that will give us the end result that will propel us into a period of peace with regard to a non-proliferation. Not a managed proliferation, but a non-proliferation of nuclear weapons."
Perdue ended by giving Netanyahu an advance welcome to the United States – where next month the Israeli prime minister is to address a joint session of Congress. Without the White House’ blessing.
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