[An Nahar] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told U.S. President Barack Obama
I've now been in 57 states -- I think one left to go ...
Monday that Israel must remain the "master of its fate" in a firm defense of his right to mount a unilateral strike on Iran.
Netanyahu and Obama met for delicate Oval Office talks taking place amid clear differences on the imminence of the nuclear threat from Iran and after weeks of speculation that Israel may mount go-it-alone military action.
"Israel must have the ability always to defend itself, by itself, against any threat," Netanyahu said in a short, but impassioned comments to cameras at the start of a meeting with Obama, with whom he has had sometimes strained relations.
"After all, that is the very purpose of the Jewish state, to restore to the Jewish people control over our destiny.
"That's why my supreme responsibility as prime minister of Israel is to ensure that Israel remains the master of its fate," said Netanyahu, who ruffled Obama's feathers last year with a stunning lecture in the Oval Office.
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