US support for Netanyahu wanes after flop Congress show: Poll

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint session of the US Congress on March 3, 2015 at the US Capitol in Washington, DC.

A new poll shows US support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has waned after his recent rant at Congress against the nuclear talks underway between Iran and the P5+1 countries.

The results of the Gallup survey released on Tuesday shows Netanyahu with a 38 percent favorability rating in the United States, which is 7 points down from a similar poll conducted in February.

The poll also indicates Netanyahu’s unfavorability rating went up by 5 percent during the same time period.

Thirty-three percent Americans said they did not have an opinion on Netanyahu, who is facing a tough election on the 17th of March.

The Israeli premier made a speech before a joint session of Congress on March 3 during which the Israeli prime minister ranted for nearly 40 minutes against Iran.

He was invited by US House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner. The invitation was extended hours after Obama threatened to veto any sanctions legislation against Iran during his State of the Union address in January.

Netanyahu denounced the ongoing talks between Iran and the P5+1 countries – the US, Britain, France, China, Russia, and Germany, which have entered a sensitive final stage.

He accused Washington of negotiating “a very bad deal” with Iran over its nuclear program that he said could leave the Middle East “littered with nuclear bombs.”

Americans are both angry at Netanyahu’s accepting the Republican invitation to address Congress two weeks before the Israeli election without consulting the White House and excessive Israel Lobby interference in American foreign policy.

In an interview with Press TV on March 4, American political activist and journalist Stephen Lendman said Netanyahu’s “scheme” to come to Washington and disrupt Iran nuclear talks apparently fell flat. 

He said Netanyahu’s speech did “more damage to US-Israeli relations than any Israeli leader in the history of [Israel].”

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