Netanyahu warns Obama: "Iran is committed to Israel's destruction"

WASHINGTON–Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Barack Obama on Monday–a story overshadowed by the looming partial federal government shutdown. While there may be a thaw in U.S.-Iran relations–Obama and Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani talked on the phone last week–Netanyahu seemed wary that Iran would get rid of its nuclear capacity.

“Iran is committed to Israel’s destruction, so for Israel, the ultimate test of a future agreement with Iran is whether or not Iran dismantles its military nuclear program. We have a saying in Hebrew,” Netanyahu said. “We call it — (Netanyahu said it in Hebrew). You would say it in English: What’s the bottom line? And the bottom line, again, is that Iran fully dismantles its military nuclear program.

“In this regard, I want to express my appreciation to you for the enormous work that’s been done to have a sanctions regime in place to thwart Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons. I believe that it’s the combination of a credible military threat and the pressure of those sanctions that have brought Iran to the negotiating table.”

I also believe that if diplomacy is to work, those pressures must be kept in place. And I think they should not be lessened until there is verifiable success. And in fact, it is Israel’s firm belief that if Iran continues to advance its nuclear program during negotiations, the sanctions should be strengthened.”

Netanyahu speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York in Tuesday.