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Netanyahu's Powerful UN Speech Distorted by the Media

(Algemeiner) Alan Dershowitz - I was in the UN General Assembly when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered his speech about Iran's nuclear program and heard a very different speech from the one described by the New York Times as "sabotaging diplomacy." I heard a rational call for diplomacy backed by sanctions and the ultimate threat of military force as a last resort. The Times was particularly critical of Netanyahu's statement that if Iran were to be on the verge of developing nuclear weapons designed to wipe Israel off the map, "against such a threat Israel will have no choice but to defend itself." But this statement reflects American policy as well. President Obama has told me that Israel must reserve the right to take military action in defense of its own civilian population. Israel cannot be expected, any more than the U.S. can be expected, to outsource the ultimate obligation to protect its citizens from nuclear attack. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy made it clear that the U.S. would not accept nuclear weapons pointed at our cities from bases in Cuba.
2013-10-03 00:00:00
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