Obama, Netanyahu Talk on Phone

Kerry Says Won’t Give In to Fearmongers

President Barack Obama has spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu about Iran’s nuclear program, Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations and other Mideast issues.

The White House says the two leaders spoke by phone on Monday. The White House says Obama and Netanyahu agreed to continue coordinating closely on security.

Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday said that it would be “the height of irresponsibility” for Washington not to test Iran’s diplomatic overtures in regard to its nuclear program.

In what appeared to be a reference to Netanyahu’s warnings not to fall prey to the “charm offensive” of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Kerry stated that the U.S. would not “succumb to fear tactics,” of those who oppose diplomacy.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu has told Nigeria’s president Goodluck Jonathan that a nuclear-armed Iran threatens Africa.

The prime minister’s office said Netanyahu told Jonathan that stopping Iran from getting nuclear weapons is important to Nigeria, the rest of Africa and the world.

In February, Nigerian authorities broke up what they said was an Iranian-backed group that gathered intelligence on places frequented by Americans and Israelis, and made lists of famous people for possible attacks.

This article appeared in print on page 39 of the October 30th, 2013 edition of Hamodia.