Washington, March 23: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a pro-Israel lobby on Monday that “Jerusalem is not a settlement,” but is Israel’s capital, as he showed no sign of narrowing the gap with Washington.
Palestinian East Jerusalem is considered by the international community to be illegally occupied by Israel, while Tel Aviv is recognised as Israel’s capital.
Netanyahu said he was simply following the settlement policies of all Israeli governments since 1967, but international law considers all Jewish settlements to be illegal because they are built on Arab (mainly Palestinian) land.
His remarks triggered a rousing standing ovation from the 7,500 delegates at the annual policy conference of AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, but also denunciations from a few protesters.
Netanyahu said Monday that he is confident that Israel will have the “enduring friendship” of the United States, omitting to mention the worst US-Israeli row in years.
“We have the enduring friendship of the United States of America, the greatest nation on earth,” Netanyahu told 7,500 applauding delegates.
“From one president to the next, from one Congress to the next, America’s commitment to Israel’s security has been unwavering,” the Israeli premier said.
Nowhere in his 45-minute speech did Netanyahu mention the row with US over illegal Jewish settlement expansion that has caused the current US-Israeli rift.
In fact, he boldly based US-Israeli friendship on remarks from US Vice President Joe Biden who ended up condemning Netanyahu’s government for announcing the settlements while he was in occupied Jerusalem to highlight new talks.
“As Vice President Biden has said, America has no better friend in the community of nations than Israel,” the Israeli premier said.
Netanyahu also said Monday that Israel expects swift and decisive action against Iran, but reserves the right to defend itself.
Tehran had repeatedly protested against Israeli war threats, warning that it would retaliate in the event of any strike against Iran.
Israel expects “the international community to act swiftly and to act decisively to thwart this danger, but we will always reserve the right of self-defense,” Netanyahu said.
Iran says it needs to generate nuclear energy for its growing population which is already dependant on importing 40% of its gasoline needs.
Israel is the only country in the Middle Ease that actually has nuclear bombs.
—Agencies