(JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked members of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee for their support in working to halt Iran’s nuclear program.
At a meeting Monday night, Netanyahu offered his gratitude to the senators for approving sanctions against Iran, The Hill reported, citing senators in the meeting.
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, said Netanyahu gave “very detailed” answers about his views.
“Like all of us, I don’t think he wants the negotiations to go on forever,” Corker told The Hill. “Obviously letting up on the sanctions is not something any us are interested in. And like all of us, he understands that if there is an agreement, it needs to be a full agreement.”
The committee organized the meeting.
Earlier Monday evening, meeting with members of Congress at a farewell event for the outgoing Israeli ambassador to the U.S., Michael Oren, Netanyahu told the lawmakers they must continue to apply pressure to Iran to end its alleged nuclear weapons program.
He noted that many of the lawmakers had worked many years to bring Iran to the negotiating table.
Netanyahu said that during his meeting earlier in the day with President Obama, he thanked the president for the regime of harsh sanctions levied on Iran.
In saluting Oren for his service, Netanyahu called the outgoing envoy a “human bridge between Israel and the United States.”
House majority leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), majority whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and minority whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) also spoke at the event.
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