--- title: Benjamin Netanyahu Tried to Cancel Israel Briefing for U.S. Lawmakers description: Israeli spy chief warned Congress might blow up talks on Iranian nuke program canonical: https://time.com/3744265/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-iran-nuclear-talks-obama/ author: Massimo Calabresi article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-14T21:00:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:59:41.726Z article:section: Politics og:title: Exclusive: Israeli Leader Tried to Block Intelligence Briefing for U.S. Lawmakers on Iran og:description: Israeli spy chief warned that Congress might might scuttle nuclear talks og:url: https://time.com/3744265/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-iran-nuclear-talks-obama/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte76ea070b058ca35/6987839e524fc09befdece60/netanyahu1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu attends cabinet meeting in Jerusalem og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Exclusive: Israeli Leader Tried to Block Intelligence Briefing for U.S. Lawmakers on Iran twitter:description: Israeli spy chief warned that Congress might might scuttle nuclear talks twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte76ea070b058ca35/6987839e524fc09befdece60/netanyahu1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Exclusive: Netanyahu Canceled Intel Briefing for U.S. Senators on Iran Dangers > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Real Time: Netanyahu Speaks to Congress [Watch (HLS stream): Real Time: Netanyahu Speaks to Congress](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/6QkUJFlN.m3u8) (1:33)  _Published 2015-03-03. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin_  by [Massimo Calabresi](https://time.com/author/massimo-calabresi/)  ## Massimo Calabresi Calabresi is TIME’s Washington bureau chief. Mar 14, 2015 9:00 PM UTC  Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem March 8, 2015. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem March 8, 2015. Gali Tibbon—Reuters  by [Massimo Calabresi](https://time.com/author/massimo-calabresi/)  ## Massimo Calabresi Calabresi is TIME’s Washington bureau chief. Mar 14, 2015 9:00 PM UTC Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin [Netanyahu](http://time.com/3729174/netanyahu-obama-iran-speech-fight/) tried to cancel a January [briefing](http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-01-22/netanyahu-mossad-split-divides-u-s-congress-on-iran-sanctions) for U.S. Senators by his nation’s intelligence service that warned Congress could damage talks aimed at constraining Iran’s nuclear program, according to sources familiar with the events. Tennessee Republican Bob Corker, the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, had requested the Jan. 19 briefing for six of his colleagues traveling to Israel so that the intelligence agency, Mossad, could warn them that a Senate proposal might inadvertently collapse the talks. After Netanyahu’s office stripped the meeting from the trip schedule, Corker threatened to cut his own Israel trip short in protest. Netanyahu relented after the personal intervention of Israeli ambassador to the U.S., Ron Dermer, and allowed the briefing to go forward, sources say. Attending were Corker, Republican Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham and John Barrasso, Democratic Senators Tim Kaine and Joe Donnelly, and Independent Senator Angus King. At issue was the fate of a Nov. 2013 agreement between Iran, the U.S. and five other international powers. That temporary agreement promised no new economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for a freeze of Iran’s nuclear program, new international inspections of Iran’s nuclear sites and the removal of nearly all medium-enriched uranium from Iran’s possession. Both sides have stuck to the interim deal while talks on a long-term deal to constrain the Iranian nuclear program have dragged out. The controversial but popular bill proposed by Republican Mark Kirk and Democrat Robert Menendez would have imposed new sanctions on Iran if it didn’t agree by June 30 to a long-term deal. U.S. intelligence officials had concluded that the Kirk-Menendez bill risked collapsing the talks and taking with it the 16-month-old agreement, according to a [report](http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-01-22/netanyahu-mossad-split-divides-u-s-congress-on-iran-sanctions) by Eli Lake and Josh Rogin of Bloomberg View. Corker wanted the Mossad briefing to bolster the U.S. assessment. During the Mossad briefing, the agency’s chief, Tamir Pardo, warned that the Kirk-Menendez bill would be like “throwing a grenade” into the U.S.-Iran diplomatic process. After some of the contents of the briefing were [first reported](http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-01-22/netanyahu-mossad-split-divides-u-s-congress-on-iran-sanctions) by Bloomberg View, Pardo released a [statement](http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.638509) saying he had used the phrase not to oppose new sanctions, but “as a metaphor” to describe the effect derailing current talks might have. A spokesman for Netanyahu declined to say why the Prime Minister acted to prevent the Senators from receiving the briefing from Pardo. Since the Mossad briefing, Corker has rallied support for an alternative measure to replace the Kirk-Menendez proposal, support for which has faded. Corker’s bill, which has broad support and potentially could receive enough votes for a veto-proof majority, would only impose new sanctions if Iran walked away from the Nov. 2013 agreement. U.S. and Iranian officials are entering a tense phase of negotiations in Switzerland this week as they attempt to reach a political deal to extend and expand the Nov. 2013 agreement for at least 10 years. As the challenges of reaching the longer-term deal have increased, some in the U.S. are trying to ensure the interim agreement that has frozen the Iranian program isn’t undermined in the process. Some members of the Senate oppose the ongoing talks with Iran. Freshman Republican Senator Tom Cotton last week issued an open [letter](http://time.com/3738996/iran-senate-republicans-letter/) with 46 other GOP Senators [warning](http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/03/09/world/middleeast/document-the-letter-senate-republicans-addressed-to-the-leaders-of-iran.html?%5Fr=1) the Iranian leadership that Congress could reverse parts of any deal the talks produce. Corker did not sign that letter; his bill provides for partial Congressional approval of a deal. Cotton has [said](http://www.c-span.org/video/?323753-6/senator-tom-cotton-conservative-policy-summit) that rather than negotiate with Iran, the U.S. should adopt a policy of regime change and should arm Israel with bombers and bunker busting bombs with which it could attack Iranian nuclear sites. Authorities in both parties, including Obama’s first Defense Secretary Robert Gates, [have worried](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2137429,00.html) that an Israeli attack could draw the U.S. into a military confrontation with Iran on unfavorable terms. Supporters of Kirk-Menendez argue it would increase pressure on Iran to make concessions that would more effectively limit its ability to get a nuclear weapon. Republicans are concerned that the Obama administration is too eager to do a long-term deal with Iran and is making too many concessions in the current talks. Secretary of State John Kerry arrives for talks in Geneva Sunday ahead of a self-imposed Mar. 24 deadline for the political framework for a long-term deal. Final terms of a comprehensive agreement would not be worked out before June. Netanyahu is seeking re-election in a tough vote Tuesday, with his Likud Party trailing his strongest competitor, Zionist Union, by four points in recent polls. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] I deeply regret that some perceive my being here as political. That was never my intention. I want to thank you Democrats and Republicans for your common support for Israel year after year, decade after decade. [ APPLAUSE ] The remarkable alliance between Israel and the United States has always been above politics. It must always remain above politics. Israel is grateful for the support of America's people and of America's presidents from Harry Truman to Barack Obama. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini spews the oldest hatred of antisemitism with the newest technology. We must all stand together to stop Iran's march of conquest, subjugation and terror. [ APPLAUSE ] The battle between Iran and Isis [ MUSIC ] ISIS doesn't turn Iran into a friend of America. We've been told that no deal is better than a bad deal. Well, this is a bad deal. The days when the Jewish people remain passive. In the face of genocidal enemies, those days are over. 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