Opposition leader Yitzhak Herzog (Zionist Union) on Wednesday night urged Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to end a spat with President Barack Obama over the agreement with Iran, claiming that the spat empowers Israel’s enemies.
“Netanyahu must not enter a head-on personal confrontation with President Obama,” Herzog tweeted following Obama’s speech in which he sniped repeatedly at Israel’s opposition to the deal until finally taking several open shots at Netanyahu, who has been the deal’s most vocal critic.
“On the contrary,” continued Herzog, “[Netanyahu] should go into the Oval Office, argue with [Obama] and say harsh things about the agreement with Iran, but also conduct a dialogue with him about how to build a regional and global front against Iran.”
“A public confrontation between Netanyahu and Obama brings a smile to the faces of our enemies and those who hate us, who enjoy seeing us fighting the entire world,” he concluded.
In Obama’s speech, he claimed that Israel is alone in opposing the deal – ignoring opposition by Gulf Arab states.
“Every nation in the world which has commented publicly, with the exception of the Israeli government, has supported it,” he said.
Obama’s remarks were a response to Netanyahu, who in a live webcast Tuesday urged American Jews to oppose the deal.