Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is addressing a joint meeting of Congress at 11 a.m. ET on Tuesday to lobby for tougher sanctions against Iran. As you watch the speech, follow along here for live updates.
#netanyahu welcomed into congress for political interaction that does not run through the executive branch.
by Eric Weisbrod, CNN3/3/2015 4:12:08 PM
by zbyronwolf3/3/2015 4:12:19 PM
With Vice President Biden absent, there are only Republicans behind Netanyahu in the TV screen. But some Democrats lined the aisle to shake his hand as he entered the chamber.
by Alexandra.Jaffe3/3/2015 4:12:58 PM
Netanyahu opens by saying it was "never my intention" for the speech to come across as political.
by zbyronwolf3/3/2015 4:14:04 PM
As he says "stand with Israel," there is wild applause and it appears the entire chamber stands.
by Eric Weisbrod, CNN3/3/2015 4:15:24 PM
Reid gives a shout out to Harry Reid: "You can't keep a good man down"
by The Situation Roomvia twitter3/3/2015 4:15:35 PM
Netanyahu: "I will always be grateful to President Obama for that support"
by Alexandra.Jaffe3/3/2015 4:17:07 PM
Netanyahu acknowledges he's aware of and "will always be grateful" for Obama's support, after their already tense relationship took a serious hit from the controversy surrounding this speech.
Netanyahu using Purim story as metaphor for threat Israel/Jewish people face
by zbyronwolf3/3/2015 4:19:36 PM
From Webster - po·ten·tate ˈpōtnˌtāt noun a monarch or ruler, especially an autocratic one. synonyms: ruler, monarch, sovereign, king, queen, emperor, empress, sultan, shah, raja, pharaoh "diplomatic missions to foreign potentates"
by Alexandra.Jaffe3/3/2015 4:19:56 PM
Iran's ayatollah "spews the oldest hatred, the oldest hatred of anti-semitism, with the newest technologies," Netanyahu says. "He tweets that Israel must be annihilated."
by zbyronwolf3/3/2015 4:21:05 PM
From Webster - zeal·ot ˈzelət/Submit noun a person who is fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit of their religious, political, or other ideals.
"Three tentacles of terror" as successor to Axis of Evil? #BibiSpeech
by Alexandra.Jaffe3/3/2015 4:22:52 PM
Netanyahu warns Iran's constitution "pledges death, tyranny and the pursuit of jihad." "And as states are collapsing across the Middle East, Iran is charging into the void to do just that."
by Alexandra.Jaffe3/3/2015 4:24:00 PM
Seems Netanyahu is trying to convince Congress that a nuclear Iran is as much a threat to the U.S. as is is to Israel — maybe more so. "We must all stand together to stop Iran's march of conquest, subjugation and terror," he says.
by Alexandra.Jaffe3/3/2015 4:25:58 PM
Netanyahu draws comparisons between Iran & ISIS: "Iran and ISIS are competing for the crown of militant Isla."
by zbyronwolf3/3/2015 4:26:08 PM
Netanyahu said that Iran tried to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in the United States. Here's a story from 2013 about an Iranian-American getting 25 years for that attempt.LINK
Prosecutors said Arbabsiar tried to recruit a Mexican drug cartel to bomb a Washington restaurant where Saudi Ambassador Adel Al-Jubeir dined. But the scheme unraveled when Arbabsiar's cartel contact turned out to be an undercover agent.
by zbyronwolf3/3/2015 4:26:49 PM
Netanyahu: "When it comes to Iran and ISIS, the enemy of your enemy is your enemy"
by The Situation Roomvia twitter3/3/2015 4:26:58 PM
But Netanyahu argues Iran poses a greater threat: Where ISIS "is armed with butcher knives...and YoutTube....Iran could soon be armed with intercontinental missiles and a nuclear bomb."
10 years - "blink of an eye" - Netanyahu says it is not good enough that under a nuclear deal Iran might be able to pursue the bomb in a decade. While that seems like a long time to a person, "It's the blink of an eye in the life of a nation," he says. Read what President Obama said about the ten year requirement HERE.