Benjamin Netanyahu praises U.S. alliance, still blasts Obama over Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted Monday that his controversial plans to address Congress are not aimed at disrespecting U.S. President Barack Obama, even as he blasted the U.S. leader's bid for a nuclear deal with Iran as a threat to Israel's survival.

"I have a moral obligation to speak up in the face of these dangers while there is still time to avert them," Netanyahu said during an address to pro-Israel lobby American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in Washington.

As Netanyahu spoke, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was opening a new round of talks with Iran aimed at reaching a framework nuclear deal ahead of a late-March deadline.

• John Baird says he's skeptical about nuclear talks with Iran
• Netanyahu says world has 'given up' stopping Iran nuclear program
• Netanyahu, Mossad may have differed on Iran's nuclear readiness in 2012
• White House seeks to blunt Netanyahu address to Congress

Netanyahu's visit to Washington has exposed deep tensions with the White House. The centrepiece of his trip is an address to Congress Tuesday that was orchestrated with congressional Republicans and without the knowledge of the Obama administration.

"We have indicated that any steps that anyone takes should not be construed as subjecting the relationship between the United States and Israel to partisan politics," said White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest during Monday's briefing. 

Still, Netanyahu insisted that the relationship between the U.S. and Israel remains strong.

Duelling speeches

"Reports of the demise of the Israeli-U.S. relationship is not only premature, they're just wrong," Netanyahu said at AIPAC's annual policy conference. "Our alliance is stronger than ever."

Meanwhile, a top Obama administration official declared Monday that the relationship between the United States and Israel "should never be politicized," while defending Obama's high-stakes bid for a nuclear deal with Iran.

Samantha Power, Obama's UN ambassador, insisted that the strain surrounding the speech obscures the broader security ties between the U.S. and Israel and their shared commitment to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

"Israel's security and the U.S.-Israel partnership transcend politics and it always will," Power said, also speaking at the AIPAC conference. 

Power said the U.S. prefers a diplomatic route to prevent Iran from building a bomb, but suggested Obama would turn to other tactics if a deal cannot be reached.

"If diplomacy should fail, we know the stakes of a nuclear armed Iran," she said. "We will not let it happen."

U.S. and Israeli officials have reported progress on a deal that would freeze Iran's nuclear program for 10 years, but allow it to slowly ramp up in the later years of an agreement. Netanyahu has vigorously criticized the contours of such an agreement, saying it suggested the U.S. and its partners had "given up" on stopping Iran from being able to get a bomb.