LIVE BLOG: Netanyahu's speech to Congress

Conservative commentator Jeffrey Goldberg has suggested, writing in the Atlantic, that Netanyahu's speech may have put Obama on the "back foot":

"Netanyahu may—may—have succeeded in putting Obama on the back foot. Obama has a very hard job here. He has to convince American legislators that reaching an agreement with a terror-sponsoring regime that is known to cheat on nuclear matters (and, by the way, also calls for the annihilation of Israel, a country the majority of Americans support) will make the world a safer place. That's a difficult thing to do, especially when one way to actually reach a deal, American negotiators believe, is to "preserve the dignity" of the Iranian side. There's a reasonable chance that this speech will be forgotten in a month. There's also a reasonable chance that Netanyahu just made Obama's mission harder."

Democrat Minority Leader of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi described herself as "near tears" as a result of Netanyahu's "condescension."

"I was near tears... saddened by the insult to the intelligence of the United States ... and saddened by the condescension toward our knowledge of the threat posed by Iran and our broader commitment to preventing nuclear proliferation," she said.

Iran's Foreign Ministry has dismissed Netanyahu's speech to Congress as "boring" according to the state news agency.

"The speech today by the Zionist regime's prime minister was boring and repetitive ... and part of the hardliners' election campaign in Tel Aviv," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said, IRNA reported.

Daniel Levy, head of the Middle East and & North Africa at the European Council on Foreign Relations has said that any attempt to undermine Obama by Netanyahu was let down by the incoherence of his argument:

"While Iran should win no plaudits for its regional role the attempt to depict it as the font of all evil is so reductionist as to be absurd. Netanyahu’s terrifying depiction of the consequences of a nuclear Iran in the region should be filed alongside his testimony in support of the Iraq war and its positive knock-on effects for the Middle-East. Netanyahu’s assertions of Iran’s genocidal intentions would be news to the twenty-five thousand Jews who continue to live safely inside the Islamic Republic, the largest community outside Israel in the region. If he is looking for regional sates with a history of expansionism he might look closer to home. Finally, Netanyahu’s riff on the threat to non-proliferation was worthy of an Oscar award for Chutzpah.

"Netanyahu’s call to follow the path less travelled should be seized upon by Congress and the administration to move ahead with a deal that offers the best prospect for insuring a verifiable freeze and partial roll-back of Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme offers the path towards non-proliferation and greater regional stability. That is the path less travelled, not the tired re-heated rhetoric of Bibi doing doomsday and dissing diplomacy. Finally, it is hard to think of a worse idea than an Israeli Prime Minister owning a campaign whose logical end point is to send America off to another Middle-Eastern war. "

Faisal J. Abbas, the Editor-in-Chief of Saudi Arabian news organisation Al Arabiya English, has called for Barack Obama to listen to Netanyahu's warnings about Iran, in an editorial on the Al-Arabiya English website:

"The Israeli PM managed to hit the nail right on the head when he said that Middle Eastern countries are collapsing and that 'terror organizations, mostly backed by Iran, are filling in the vacuum' during a recent ceremony held in Tel Aviv to thank outgoing IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz for his role during 'challenging' times."

"In just a few words, Mr. Netanyahu managed to accurately summarize a clear and present danger, not just to Israel (which obviously is his concern), but to other U.S. allies in the region.

"What is absurd, however, is that despite this being perhaps the only thing that brings together Arabs and Israelis (as it threatens them all), the only stakeholder that seems not to realize the danger of the situation is President Obama, who is now infamous for being the latest pen-pal of the Supreme Leader of the World’s biggest terrorist regime: Ayottallah Ali Khamenei."

US President Barack Obama said there was "nothing new" in Benjamin Netanyahu's controversial speech to Congress Tuesday, insisting the Israeli Prime Minister did not offer a better alternative to negotiations.

Netanyahu "did not offer any viable alternative," Obama said speaking from the Oval Office. "We don't yet have a deal. But if we are successful, this will be the best deal possible with Iran to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon."

Responses to the Netanyahu speech have been mixed, with right-wingers in America praising the Israeli Prime Minister's effort, while pro-Palestinian activists condemned it as manipulative and fraudulent.

The bulk of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress focused on the threat from Iran to Israel, the region and “the world.”

He claimed that Iran “now dominates four Arab capitals” citing Baghdad, the Houthi militias' control of Sana'a in Yemen, Hezbollah in Beirut and Syria's Damascus.

“If Iran's aggression is left unchecked, many more will follow,” he added, warning that “Iran is busy gobbling up the nations!”

“We must all stand together to stop Iran's march of conquest, subjugation and terror.”

He dismissed suggestions that the new Prime Minister Hassan Rouhani was a “moderate” and argued that “Iran's regime is as radical as ever. Its cries of 'Death to America' as loud as ever.”

He also argued that it was a mistake to ally with Iran in the fight against the Islamic State warning that “Iran and ISIS are competing for the crown of militant Islam” and that both wanted to establish an Islamic empire, “first on the region and then on the entire world.”

He painted a nightmare scenario warning that “the greatest danger facing our world is the marriage of militant Islam and nuclear weapons.”

Condemning the current talks as potentially allowing Iran to get control of nuclear weapons, he argued that – rather than do nothing – the alternative to the current deal was a "better deal” and argued that sanctions on Iran should not be lifted "as long as Iran continues its aggression in the region and across the world."

"If Iran wants to be treated like a normal country, let it act like a normal country,” he said, adding that "if Iran threatens to walk away from the table, and this often happens in the Persian bazaar, call their bluff."

He also gave a brief tribute to Holocaust survivor and activist Elie Wiesel who was present at the speech.

"The days when the Jewish people remain passive in the face of genocidal enemies - those days are over!" he proclaimed.

"May God bless the state of Israel and god bless the United States of America!"

According to observers, there were around 25 standing ovations from Congress throughout the speech.

Netanyahu told the US Congress that he appreciated "all that President Obama has done for Israel.”

He said that much of what he has done for Israel is not well known due to security sensitivities.

“In 2011 we had our embassy in Cairo under siege and again he provided assistance at a vital moment," he said, as an example.

“I will always been grateful to President Obama for that support.”

Following a standing ovation, Netanyahu began his speech to Congress, thanking both Democrats and Republicans for their common support for Israel over decades.

"I deeply regret that some percieve my being here as political, that was never my intention," he said

US political website The Hill has released a list of the 56 Democrats (including 1 independent who caucuses with Democrats) from the House of Representatives (HoR) and the Senate who have stated they will not be attending the Netanyahu speech:

HoR (48)

Rep. Karen Bass (Calif.)

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (Ore.)

Rep. Corrine Brown (Fla.)

Rep. G.K. Butterfield (N.C.)

Rep. Lois Capps (Calif.)

Rep. Andre Carson (Ind.)

Rep. Joaquin Castro (Texas)

Rep. Katherine Clark (Mass.)

Rep. Lacy Clay (Mo.)

Rep. James Clyburn (S.C.)

Rep. Steve Cohen (Tenn.)

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.)

Rep. John Conyers (Mich.)

Rep. Danny Davis (Ill.)

Rep. Peter DeFazio (Ore.)

Rep. Diana DeGette (Colo.)

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (Texas)

Rep. Donna Edwards (Md.)

Rep. Keith Ellison (Minn.)

Rep. Chaka Fattah (Pa.)

Rep. Marcia Fudge (Ohio)

Rep. Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.)

Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (Ill.)

Rep. Denny Heck (Wash.)

Rep. Ruben Hinojosa (Texas)

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (Texas)

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (Ohio)

Rep. Rick Larsen (Wash.)

Rep. Barbara Lee (Calif.)

Rep. John Lewis (Ga.)

Rep. Dave Loebsack (Iowa)

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (Calif.)

Rep. Betty McCollum (Minn.)

Rep. Jim McDermott (Wash.)

Reps. Jim McGovern (Mass.)

Rep. Jerry McNerney (Calif.)

Rep. Gregory Meeks (N.Y.)

Rep. Gwen Moore (Wis.)

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.)

Rep. Beto O'Rourke (Texas)

Rep. Chellie Pingree (Maine)

Rep. David Price (N.C.)

Rep. Charles Rangel (N.Y.)

Rep. Cedric Richmond (La.)

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (Ill.)

Rep. Bennie Thompson (Miss.)

Rep. Mike Thompson (Calif.)

Rep. John Yarmuth (Ky.)

Senate (8):

Sen. Al Franken (Minn.)

Sen. Tim Kaine (Va.)

Sen. Patrick Leahy (Vt.)

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) (Independent)

Sen. Brian Schatz (Hawaii)

Sen. Martin Heinrich (N.M.)

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.)

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.)

In addition, numerous Democrats are said to be "on the fence" about attending, while 105 have said they will be attending.