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WASHINGTON - Pouring rain did not prevent more than 6,000 people from attending Sunday's opening of the annual AIPAC conference in Washington, which is considered one of the city's 10 biggest political and media events.
WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Newt Gingrich at the AIPAC policy conference called for ousting the regime in Iran and bombing its missile sites. Gingrich, a former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and a likely presidential candidate in 2012, in his address faulted the last Bush administration and the current Obama administration for engaging with Iran as long as it is led by theocrats who threaten Israel.
As the six activists were forcibly dragged away from the stage, they shouted similar phrases including "Tikun olam (Heal the world) for Gaza, too!", all meant to draw attention to widespread opposition to AIPAC's policies lobbied to Congress that include unconditional support and financing for Israel's militaristic policies including the recent devastating invasion of Gaza, building of illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the separation wall, refusal to negotiate with the Palestinians' democratically elected representatives, and threats to attack Iran.
In an address before 'the most important' lobby affecting America's relations with Israel, President Shimon Peres accuses Iran of posing an international "threat".
On the eve of talks with US President Barack Obama in Washington, President Peres won strong applause from the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
WASHINGTON (AP) — Israel's president charged Monday that Iran's nuclear program threatens the United States, Europe and Arab nations, as well as Israel.
"The fanatic rulers of Iran are on the wrong side of history," Shimon Peres told a convention of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobby in Washington.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi has questioned the wisdom behind a US Congress initiative to choke off gasoline supplies to the oil-rich country.
Despite claims of seeking a new beginning with Iran, the US government has threatened the Tehran government with further unilateral sanctions should potential negotiations over the country's disputed nuclear program fail.
The world has no choice but to compare the threat posed by Iran now to that of Nazi Germany before the Second World War, President Shimon Peres told U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington on Tuesday.
"Iran is a threat not just to Israel, but to the whole world. As Jews, after being subjected to the Holocaust, we cannot close our eyes in light of the grave danger emerging from Iran," Peres said.
"I do not doubt that Israel will do what it thinks it needs to do, regardless of whether the U.S. approves," said Mark Fitzpatrick, non-proliferation expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.
"Israel would seek forgiveness, not permission."
A retired Israeli general who advises the government on strategic issues suggested there was a tacit synchronicity in recent messages about Iran from Israel and the United States:
"The Israeli threat adds urgency to Obama's calls for diplomatic engagement, and should Israel take things into its hands, the Americans retain wriggle room, some deniability."
Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni addressed the Council of Foreign Relations in New York City on Tuesday, outlining her support for a tough approach toward Iran. She also stressed the importance of the peace process with the Palestinians and cooperating with "moderate" Arab forces.
"Time is not in our favor," she said, adding that avoiding tough decisions would be a strategic threat to Israel's future. She said it would be a big mistake not to continue negotiations with the Palestinians, because peace is in the interests of Israel.
Lieberman talked about a "peace industry," which to date had achieved little but waste money, according to parliamentarians at the meeting. He further described Iran as a major threat.
"All this is far from encouraging," said former German minister of state for foreign affairs, Werner Hoyer.