(msnbc).Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the bipartisan support in Congress for Israel Tuesday as he stood flanked by party leaders Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner — in his only photo opportunity so far on his visit with U.S. officials.
Speaking before meeting Pelosi and Boehner, Netanyahu said of support from Republicans and Democrats in Congress that it was "genuine. It's real. It's the detailed. It's serious. And it's deeply, deeply appreciated by the people of Israel, across the board," according to an account in the Chicago Sun-Times.
The paper said he added: "We face two great challenges. The first is the quest for peace with our Palestinian neighbors. And the second is the ability of the international community to stop the Iranian tyranny from developing atomic weapons, which would directly threaten the State of Israel, but threaten the entire world, and threaten the Untied States of America."
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"If this terror tyranny acquires atomic bombs, they could easily give them to terrorist proxies," he warned, the Sun-Times reported. They could also contemplate using these weapons themselves. And this is something of intolerable danger to all of us.
Netanyahu ignored a shouted question about the expulsion of an Israeli diplomat from London — a British response to the cloning of U.K. passports used by a hit squad which assassinated a Hamas leader in Dubai.
Pelosi spoke of the "long friendship" between the two countries, stressing that the two parties "speak with one voice on the subject of Israel," the Sun-Times said. Boehner added that the U.S. had "no stronger ally anywhere in the world than Israel" but admitted "we all know that we're in a difficult moment."
Speaking before meeting Pelosi and Boehner, Netanyahu said of support from Republicans and Democrats in Congress that it was "genuine. It's real. It's the detailed. It's serious. And it's deeply, deeply appreciated by the people of Israel, across the board," according to an account in the Chicago Sun-Times.
The paper said he added: "We face two great challenges. The first is the quest for peace with our Palestinian neighbors. And the second is the ability of the international community to stop the Iranian tyranny from developing atomic weapons, which would directly threaten the State of Israel, but threaten the entire world, and threaten the Untied States of America."
Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad here
"If this terror tyranny acquires atomic bombs, they could easily give them to terrorist proxies," he warned, the Sun-Times reported. They could also contemplate using these weapons themselves. And this is something of intolerable danger to all of us.
Netanyahu ignored a shouted question about the expulsion of an Israeli diplomat from London — a British response to the cloning of U.K. passports used by a hit squad which assassinated a Hamas leader in Dubai.
Pelosi spoke of the "long friendship" between the two countries, stressing that the two parties "speak with one voice on the subject of Israel," the Sun-Times said. Boehner added that the U.S. had "no stronger ally anywhere in the world than Israel" but admitted "we all know that we're in a difficult moment."
