5 reasons Netanyahu is challenging Obama over Iran

The Israeli premier slams the White House for being weak on Iran, thrusting himself into one of the most controversial foreign policy debates of the 2012 race

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with President Obama on March 5.
(Image credit: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

This week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the Obama administration to task for refusing to set "red lines" on Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program, arguing that the U.S. had forsaken its "moral right to place a red light before Israel" if it chooses to attack Iran. Netanyahu's tough words came after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. was "not setting deadlines" for a possible military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, angering an Israeli government that has grown impatient with Obama's strategy of allowing tough sanctions and international isolation to take their toll on the Iranian regime. While Netanyahu has long advocated a tougher approach to Iran, his attacks on the U.S.'s government's supposed moral laxity were seen as unusually vicious. Here, five reasons Netanyahu is challenging Obama:

1. He knows the election puts Obama in a tough spot

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up