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Squeaks in US-Israeli Relations

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's comments on "Face the Nation" about what the US should do about Iran stir controversy. 
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem July 14, 2013. REUTERS/Abir Sultan/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX11MDX

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ramping up the pressure on President Barack Obama to prioritize the buildup of Iran's nuclear program is a crude public signal to alert Israeli supporters in the US Congress to echo his demand for the US president to put Iran's nuclear program ahead of other crises in the Middle East. As if the signal were not enough, Netanyahu insisted Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that the White House must demonstrate by “action” to the newly elected Iranian president that the “military option which is on the table is truly on the table.” Is this an advice, an instruction, or an order!

Netanyahu said the strategy of Iranian President-elect Hassan Rouhani is to be “a wolf in sheep's clothing”; this was a clear and crude attempt to stifle the need for a US assessment of the new president of Iran, as is customary.

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