The Obama-Netanyahu showdown

US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will go head to head this week as they try to win over the American public and its congressional supporters to their positions on the Iran nuclear deal.

 

“Netanyahu and Obama seem as though they’re fighting a life-and-death battle and are ready to do whatever it takes to win,” wrote the diplomatic correspondent of the daily Haaretz, Barak Ravid.

 

On Wednesday, Obama will speak at the American University in Washington, where 50 years ago, John F. Kennedy spoke in an effort to convince the American people that it was possible to prevent nuclear war with the Soviet Union through diplomacy.

 

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters on Friday that the speech is meant to explain to the American people how the Iran deal serves US security interests.

 

Obama will make his speech one day after Netanyahu delivers a speech of his own, broadcast over the Internet to representatives from over 100 American Jewish organizations. Tens of thousands of American Jews received invitations to watch the live feed on their computers, cellphones and during screenings at synagogues across the United States.

 

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