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Netanyahu warns Congress: Deal will lead to Iranian nuclear bomb

03 March 2015 18:52 (UTC +04:00)

"We have been told that no deal is better than a bad deal. Well this is a bad deal. It is a very bad deal. We are better off without it," Netanyahu said in a dramatic address to the U.S. Congress, which has caused a furious row with the Obama White House.

"We are being told that the only alternative to this bad deal is war. That is just not true. The alternative to this bad deal is a much better deal," Netanyahu said to deafening cheers in the House of Representatives chamber, while issuing a firm warning that Israel would stand alone if necessary to defend the existence of the Jewish people.

The speech immediately sent relations between Netanyahu and the White House, which were already in poor shape, into a deeper tailspin, with one senior administration official saying the Israeli leader had offered "literally not one new idea; not one single concrete alternative; all rhetoric, no action."

Netanyahu was not in Washington at the invitation of President Barack Obama but was asked to give the speech by Republican House Speaker John Boehner in a move that exposed the U.S.-Israel alliance to treacherous American partisan crossfire.

In a speech punctuated by multiple standing ovations but boycotted by over 50 Democratic lawmakers, Netanyahu warned that the proposed agreement would allow Iran's breakout time -- the period that it would take to race to a nuclear weapon -- to be much shorter than the one year that the U.S. administration is aiming for. Following fierce warnings by U.S. officials, however, he appeared to stop short of unveiling intricate details of the talks between world powers and Iran which Washington says could dash hopes of an agreement.