Zionist Union leaders lashed out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday for his planned speech to Congress on Tuesday, accusing him of using the Iran crisis to win votes in the upcoming Knesset elections.
The speech, which has been the subject of criticism in Israel and the US, will slam the agreement on Iran\’s nuclear program currently being drafted by the US and other world powers.
"There is no dispute about the Iranian threat, but the speech will not help and not change anything, but just could cause damage," the party\’s leader Isaac Herzog said during a studio interview at Ynet. "Netanyahu is destroying (our) American alliance for a few votes at the ballot box."
The party\’s number two, Tzipi Livni, also weighed in, saying that, "Netanyahu is destroying the relationship with the United States."
The two were accompanied in the studio by Manuel Trajtenberg, a renowned economist and the Zionist Union candidate for finance minister.
Herzog, like former Mossad chief Meir Dagan, told Ynet that no one is disputing the threat posed by a nuclear Iran, but warned that Netanyahu\’s approach only served to harm Israel\’s position.
"There is no dispute about the Iranian threat. We are very aware of the threat and know how to handle it," Herzog said.
"The controversy is about the way to do that. The speech will not help nor change anything, but can only cause damage. The world will not listen to him, nor will the negotiators. This is a mistake that Netanyahu is making. The Jewish community in the United States has said, \’do it after the elections.\’"