IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Ambassador Samantha Power: U.S. Commitment to Israel 'Transcends Politics'

She spoke to a pro-Israel lobby one day before a controversial address to Congress by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Image: Samantha Power
U.S. United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power addresses the 2015 American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference in Washington, Monday, March 2, 2015. AP

The relationship between the United States and Israel “transcends politics, and it always will,” the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said on Monday.

Ambassador Samantha Power spoke to AIPAC, the largest pro-Israel lobby in the United States, one day before a controversial address to Congress by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu opposes the effort by Western countries to strike a deal with Iran over its nuclear program, which Iran insists is peaceful. Power sought to portray the U.S. commitment to Israel’s security as rock-solid.

“The United States of America will not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon. Period,” Power said. “If diplomacy should fail, we know the stakes of a nuclear-armed Iran as well as everyone here. We will not let it happen.”

The prime minister was scheduled to speak to AIPAC after Power. He accepted an invitation from Republican House Speaker John Boehner to speak to Congress in what the White House viewed as a breach of protocol.

IN-DEPTH

— Erin McClam