ISRAEL-NETANYAHU/PURIM Israel's Netanyahu pledges to protect Israel at any cost

Record ID: 399253

  • Title: ISRAEL-NETANYAHU/PURIM Israel's Netanyahu pledges to protect Israel at any cost
  • Date: 5th March 2015
  • Summary: JERUSALEM (MARCH 5, 2015) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** ISRAEL'S PRIME MINISTER, BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ATTENDING PURIM PRAYERS AT SYNAGOGUE JEWISH WORSHIPPERS ATTENDING PRAYERS VARIOUS OF NETANYAHU ATTENDING PRAYERS NETANYAHU WALKING TO PODIUM NETANYAHU CHEERING WORSHIPPERS (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) ISRAEL'S PRIME MINISTER, BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, SAYING: "The s
  • Embargoed: 20th March 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Jerusalem
  • City:
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA1J6EP5CIH54DNEC0EYW2YDRNY
  • Story Text: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended Purim prayers on Thursday (March 5) at a Synagogue in Jerusalem and used the occasion to reiterate his tough stance on security and potential nuclear threat from Iran.
    "The state of Israel will do everything in its power to protect itself and to protect our future. In my speech at the Congress I mentioned Megilat Esther, that we just read," Netanyahu said.
    In a 39-minute long speech to the U.S. Congress on Tuesday (March 3) he warned the United States that it was negotiating a bad deal with Iran that could spark a "nuclear nightmare," drawing a rebuke from President Barack Obama and exposing a deepening U.S.-Israeli rift.
    Addressing the worshippers Netanyahu reiterated that Israel has the right to defend itself and has the capability to do so.
    "Today unlike at the time of queen Esther and Jewish Mordechai, we are not spared and scattered people within the nations," he said.
    "We have our own state, with our own army, we do not need to ask the right to protect ourselves from others. Today, with the help of god, the state of Israel has the right and the capability, to protect itself on her own. Happy Purim for all of you," he added.
    Netanyahu's speech at the U.S. Congress culminated a diplomatic storm triggered by his acceptance in January of a Republican invitation that bypassed the White House. Many Democrats considered it an affront to the president.
    Obama refused to meet Netanyahu, saying that doing so just ahead of Israel's March 17 general election would be seen as interference. The president, who has a history of testy encounters with Netanyahu, said he did not watch the televised speech but read the transcript.
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