Netanyahu: Iran 'Getting a Free Path to the Bomb'

Benjamin Netanyahu hasn't softened his stance toward the Iran nuclear deal, telling State of the Union today that not only did it "absolutely" threaten Israel, but that it gave Tehran "a free path to the bomb." As the Hill reports, the Israeli PM says that "the alternatives are not either this bad deal or war. I think there’s a third alternative. And that is standing firm, ratcheting up the pressure until you get a better deal." He continued that theme later on This Week, reports Politico, saying, "there's still time to reach a good deal, a better deal. What's required is to hold firm. What they don’t accept today, they can accept tomorrow," he said, advocating continued sanctions. Senate Democrats, meanwhile, were pushing back:

• Dianne Feinstein on Netanyahu's rhetoric: “This can backfire on him, and I wish that he would contain himself, because he has put out no real alternative. It’s a better agreement, candidly, that I ever thought it was going to be. It can signal a new day."
• Chris Murphy: "With this deal on the table, it would be hard to get Russia and China to go back to sanctions. It's easy to say that we should just continue to negotiate and effectively sanction Iran into submission, but I don’t think that’s the deal that the rest of our negotiating partners signed up for."

(More Benjamin Netanyahu stories.)