Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is insisting that any final agreement with Iran over its nuclear program include a "clear and unambiguous Iranian commitment of Israel's right to exist."
Netanyahu's comments, made in a statement today, come a day after six world powers and Iran, after years of negotiations, reached a preliminary understanding about the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. President Obama said that if fully implemented, the deal would prevent Iran "from obtaining nuclear weapons."
But the deal announced Thursday has opponents in the U.S. Congress as well as in the form of Netanyahu. The Israeli leader has for years said Iran is an existential threat to his country, and while it's unclear what effect his opposition to the deal may have, it will likely bolster the arguments of congressional critics of talks with Iran.
Netanyahu reiterated his opposition today.
"The proposed agreement would constitute a real danger to the region and the world, and it would threaten the existence of Israel," he said.
Netanyahu told Obama on Thursday that if the now-public agreement becomes the basis for a final deal, Israel's survival would be threatened. Obama disagreed, according to a White House description of the call, telling the Israeli leader that the preliminary agreement marks significant progress toward ending Iran's ability to build a bomb.
Israel's security Cabinet met today to evaluate the preliminary agreement and was unanimously opposed to it.
Mark Regev, the Israeli prime minister's spokesman, tweeted Netanyahu's opposition to the deal. You can find those remarks here.
You can find our full coverage of this story, including details of the preliminary deal, here.
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