By Ben Sales · February 12, 2013

JERUSALEM (JTA) – Addressing a delegation from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about the Iranian nuclear threat and said he looked forward to President Obama’s upcoming Israel trip.

In the Monday night speech, Netanyahu also reaffirmed his commitment to a peace agreement with the Palestinians.

The prime minister said that Iran had yet to cross the “red line” in its nuclear fuel enrichment that would necessitate an attack on its enrichment facilities, but that Iran is working to “shorten the time it will take them to cross that line.”

“This has to be stopped in the interests of peace and security,” he said. “You have to upgrade the sanctions, and we have to know if sanctions and diplomacy fail, that [Iran] will face a credible military threat.”

Aside from Iran, Netanyahu said the two major security threats Israel faces are from the stockpile of chemical weapons in Syria, which could fall into the hands of terrorists, as well as the ongoing diplomatic stalemate with the Palestinians.

He called for “two states for two peoples – a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state. I think to reach this solution we have to negotiate in good faith. Negotiating in good faith means you don’t place preconditions.”

Netayahu said that Obama’s visit, scheduled for March, is “a wonderful opportunity to reaffirm the strategic relationship between Israel and the United States.”

Help us tell the Jewish story with reporting from around the world. Please donate to JTA.

Click to write a letter to the editor.

This article was made possible by the support of readers like you. Donate to JTA now.