. >>> a referendum on netenyahu, israel east prime minister in an uphill battle for a fourth term in a very tight election. >>> i'm lauren taylor this is al jazeera live from london. activists say the syrian air force carried out a chlorine gas attack on a northern town killing 60 people. >>> and relief set to reach vanuatu's most remote islands. ♪ >>> hello, israelis are voting in an election that's expected to be a close race. benjamin netenyahu who has already served three terms at prime minister leads the right-wing likud party. he has put security first and promises to prevent the establishment of a palestinian state. his main challengers are the zionist union, made up by isaac herzog. they have promised a renewed push for peace. and they have also focused on the rising cost of living which has become a central issue for israelis. we have correspondent at the headquarters of the key parties. let's first go to the likud party headquarters. mike what is the mood like there? do they think he can pull it off? all right. mike i'm not sure if you heard me there. it's lauren in the stu

benjamin netenyahu set to address both houses of congress. we want to take you live now to capitol hill where he will be the guest of the 114th joint meeting of congress but a number of democrats say they are swiping the speech. house speaker john binder invited the prime minister without informing the white house which is a violation of protocol. mike viqueira is life outside that gathering at the russell rotunda. a very hot ticket in town indeed, but the vice president will be among those who will be notably absent. >> reporter: yeah it is be boycotted about around 40 democrats. speaker john boehner inviting benjamin netenyahu to come and address this joint meeting of congress. he wants to try to derail what he thinks is an merging deal between iran and the west lead by the united states. ongoing right now at this moment in switzerland, trying to put iran's nuclear program -- put some controls on that. del you mention it is a shot ticket. town on the floor there will be empty spaces because of the controversy surrounding this speech. and yo

>> reporter: benjamin netenyahu is here for one purpose and one purpose only.e is trying to rerail the deal between what he sees as the relationship between the itself and iran. the president in an interview late today said the damage between the two is probably not permanent. and both sides are emphasizing the strength of the relationship. a lot of prepositioning and posturing going on before the big speech before a joint meeting of congress tomorrow. but make no mistake, there is a difference of opinion over some basic facts here chiefly whether it is proper for benjamin netenyahu to come to the united states without knowledge of the white house and agree to give that speech. today netenyahu offered a curtain-raiser of sorts before apac. >> the purpose of my address to congress tomorrow is to speak up about a potential deal with iran that could threaten the survival of israel. iran envelops the entire world with its tentacles of terror. this is what iran is doing now without nuclear weapons. imagine what it would do with nuclear weapons. and this same iran vo

netenyahu will be back with more of the same.otably some of the parties on the right, and certainly a repeat of the last two governments. and the third scenario which will be the zionist union and the nationalist camp will join together. and that will lead probably to the most stalemate possible. it will be what you call a jewish consensus coalition government. >> when you look at this joint list, this alliance of arab israelis that are -- that will be represented, how significant is that? >> it's significant in one way. mr. lieberman at one point, the right-wij -- wing leader who is an immigrant wanted to hike [ inaudible ] to get some of these arab parties out. so they all joined hands for the first time in the history of the state. so all three arab or four arab parties join together and they could probably gain between 11 and 13 seat, but their weight as a third-party will not translate into anything actionable because they will not join any of the next governments. the best they would do is maybe get support from the outside

benjamin netenyahu set to address both houses of congress.take you live now to capitol hill where he will be the guest of the 114th joint meeting of congress but a number of democrats say they are swiping the speech. house speaker john binder invited the prime minister without informing the white house which is a violation of protocol. mike viqueira is life outside that gathering at the russell

netenyahu keeps insisting that he speaks for the jewish people. while in fact president obama had got -- in terms of numbers, far more many many more votes than prime minister netenyahu got. president obama could say he speaks for more jewish people than prime minister netenyahu. on the other hand netenyahu has been trying to be very nice complementary, but this kind of complementary complementary, it is really more than a farce -- >> that's how he started the speech by praising president obama and the administration for his support to israel. >> but that is sort of transparent. he could have said look, president obama i know i'm not doing very well but i will see a psychiatrist or something, but he didn't. but the most important thing here is in terms of the their narration, he used the same that iran uses. when he talks about hiding nuclear programs when he talks about defining international inspectors that's what israeli does every day in terms of its own nuclear program. so he sounded like a theological leader rather than i want a democracy. b

first i think netenyahu netenyahu -- sincerely believes president obama is misguided on the iran issuely there are domestic political acquisitions that netenyahu is considering as well. two weeks after the speech netenyahu is going to be facing re-election. most israelis at this point in time are critical of netenyahu for mishandling parts of the economy. prices of housing and the cost of living in israel is incredibly high and he has been criticized for that and this is a way to distract and deflect from that and focus on the security issue. he wants to be seen as mr. security so better prop than a speech before congress interrupted only by, you know standing ovations by both members of congress. >> right right. so guy, i want your view on how far this discord goes back and this relationship between these two leaders. i tend to think -- and i'm probably wrong on this -- but i tend to think it goes back to the cairo speech when president obama asked for a settlement freeze in israel. you fast forward a bit and less than a year later, the netenyahu government announces new settlements,

netenyahu.nd the left of the center have not succeeded in putting the economy on center stage of the campaign, but yes, it is a lurking, burning issue, and if mr. netenyahu does not win, this will be the sleeper that sort of did him in because there are parties that are running only on the economic issue, especially the party that is headed by a former minister and could be the king maker, and if he does well and i expect he will he eel take a lot of votes away from netenyahu because of the economy and the gap in income equality in israel. >> thank you. we're joined by the director on the project of middle east policy. welcome. let me ask you this how do palestinians view this election? >> they are waiting for the results. of course if the incumbent wins if benjamin netenyahu wins it will be more of the same so that's not particularly good news. it's more hardships and no progress on the peace front. if the left does manage to secure a big enough vote and then be able to achieve an effective coa

how it is looking for benjamin netenyahu?> yes indeed there's still some five hours before the polls officially close, and indications are that the turnout was far higher than it was in the elections two years ago. this perhaps an indication of how tightly contested this campaign has been. there has been a steady stream of voters since the early morning, and it is expected close to 80% of the edgeable voters will cast their ballots. along the voters was benjamin netenyahu who's likud party has been slipping behind in the recent polls. in cent days netenyahu himself has reached out to the right, catching support for settlements in onning pied territory, and recanting what was always a grudging commitment to a palestinian state. but it appears this was not enough to close the gap on isaac herzog's zionist union. crucially, though no single movement will get near the 61 seats needed to command a majority in the parliament. and as in previous elections, there are likely to be weeks of coalition talks before a government is formed

netenyahu. and not only mr.enyahu, of course, we did very well securing roughly around 20 seats, 12 more than the previous election. the far-right parties also did extremely well. so the israeli public embracing, if you will the defense, i suppose issue that has dominated israeli politics for decades. and that clearly has not changed. >> thank you very much for joining us. >>> one of the other outcomes of this election is the joint list of israeli palestinian parties is now going to be the third largest political force in the israeli parliament. our correspondent is in nazareth with more. >> reporter: the joint list of mainly arab members is now the third largest political party in the israeli parliament. and it has said it will do whatever it can to try to prevent another right-wing government from being formed here in israel following this election. but with netenyahu winning a significantly higher number of seats than his opponents in the centrist zionist union party, it puts him in a strong position to form

election eve, netenyahu fights to keep his job.e results could mean to israel, the palestinians, and the u.s. putin's power. russia's president surfaces after more than a week along with new reports about crimea and nuclear weapons. >>> american dreamer posing as a citizen while rising on wall street. an undocumented worker who once gained the system now

but in a sense, netenyahu doesn't need it any more.re are reports this morning that iran is rejecting what the president said about a deal that will freeze its nuclear program for ten years, calling it unacceptable. so if the prime minister's goal is to torpedo these negotiations going on in geneva. in the final days leading up to the deadline all of the drama and the brinksmanship surrounding the speech may do just that. >> you're saying the talks are kind of stalled anyway at this point. but it's really about what is the context for those discussions, what congress may or may not know. it may come down to what the sensitive information is. here's what's for sure. this speech has divided our congress and our political parties. but also somewhat the community of jewish people here in the states and in israel. so let's get both sides of what is certainly a debate we have jeremy benemi president of jay street a group that opposes the prime minister's speech and we have rabbi bruli, strongly supportive of the prime minister and these effo

netenyahu remained alone. this speech therefore greatly undermined the relationship between israel and the united states. >> while supporters of the speech which garnered dozens of standing ovations called it one of the best of the prime minister's career. >> i think it was an important speech historic speech and it's very important that israeli speak up about its national security and what might affect its very existence. >> the divide in israel mirrored in u.s. congress the gop welcoming netenyahu while some 50 democrats boycotted the speech. >> even if israel has to stand alone, israel will stand. >> netenyahu landed in israel a short time ago and his office almost immediately put out a statement. the statement reads in part i presented a practical alternative to impose tougher restrictions on iran's nuclear program, extending iran's break-out time by years. the phrasing is serum no coincidence. a practical alternative comes across as a direct response to what president obama said about netenyahu offering n

. >>> abbas says he is worried about prime minister netenyahu's opposition to a palestinian state. >>lator: we will not backtrack from our position in demanding that international legitimacy be achieved for palestine and also we have the right to go anywhere in the world to ensure that right is achieved. >> and netenyahu has said he is not changed his policy on a two-state solution. >>> well european union leaders have arrived in brussels for a summit expected to last two days. russia's government in ukraine will be high on the agenda. ukraine's prime minister made a plea for unity over russian sanctions. greece will also be a major talking point. the greek prime minister will meet with angela merkel and francois hollande as well as members of the european union and the european central bank. >>> two al jazeera journalists on trial in egypt make their latest appearance in court. >>> and arrests in thailand over a criminal network smuggling ivory. ♪ ♪ >>> now to run through the headlines. at least 12 people have been killed in yemen. the unrest centered on the airport in aden before th

netenyahu sees which is that iran poses an imminent threat if a nuclear deal is signed with tehran.t israelis one could argue while security is very important to them as they go to the polls in less than two weeks are thinking about other issues most notably the economy and the housing crisis here in israel. which is essentially the fact that housing here is extremely expensive. these are issues that most israelis want the prime minister to discuss. he of course is trying to discuss iran and indeed security. that's significant for him, because he is seen as somebody who is very good when it comes to presenting israeli's security concerns, but is less good at dealing with issues like the economy and housing, which are important to most israelis. so as mr. netenyahu wakes up he is not seeing that universal praise which he is perhaps used to given he had addressed congress twice before this time he is receiving an awful lot of criticism at home. >>> the refugee crisis in lebanon is deepening. the u.n. saying it is being forced to close some temporary accommodation. many refugees face a

netenyahu's speech nearly the second after he stopped speaking. what is interesting here is the fact that the speech and the context surrounding the speech has really polarized the media landscape here in israel. that in itself is very significant, because normally when an israeli prime minister addresses a joint meeting of congress it's almost universally praised. israelis like it when the leader of their country, which is a relatively small country, is given such a large platform and given global attention. but the reason this speech has become so polarizing is because many people here in israel don't see the threat that mr. netenyahu sees which is that iran poses an imminent threat if a nuclear deal is signed with tehran. most israelis one could argue, while security is very important to them as they go to the polls in less than two weeks are thinking about other issues most notably the economy, and the housing crisis here in israel, which is essentially the fact that housing here is extremely expensive. these are issues that most israelis want

netenyahu, mr. netenyahu is all but certain to have an historic fourth term in power. >> okay. thank you very much. >>> claims of human rights abuses in crimea. we talk to a man who says his son disappeared off it was annexed by russia. plus, in sport roger federer out for revenge against the man who knocked him out of he australian open. details in about 20 minutes. ♪ >> sunday. >> you have to look at the suffering of these children. >> director of unicef, anthony lake. >> every one of those numbers is an individual child. >> helping the innocent victims of war. >> what can unicef do? >> there's a very short answer... our best. >> every sunday night. >> i lived that character. >> go one on one with america's movers and shakers. >> we will be able to see change. >> gripping. inspiring. entertaining. talk to al jazeera. sunday, 6:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america. ♪ >>> welcome back. you are watching al jazeera live from our headquarters in doha. a reminder our main story this hour. a manhunt is underway in tunisia for three people suspected of being involved in an attack i

and the white house is warning benjamin netenyahu, do not betray our trust.ive information about america's ongoing nuclear talks with iran. >> the controversial speech polarizing americans. his appearance so divisive that dozens of lawmakers plan to boycott it and the white house says the president will not watch it we have this story covered the way only cnn can. we begin with senior white house correspondent jim acosta. so the president is not making this appointment viewing. >> not must-see tv for president obama. he's acknowledging there has been damage done to the u.s./israeli relationship but the damage will not be lasting. the white house is bracing for israeli prime minister netenyahu's speech to congress this morning. one fear is that netenyahu will reveal secret details from the iran negotiations. the white house said that would be a betrayal of the u.s. trust. netenyahu insists the talks will pave the way for iran to have nuclear weapons soon. the president maintains he does not take this rift with netenyahu personally. >> i think it's permanently

. ♪ >>> in israel prime minister benjamin netenyahu is under fire for his election campaign ads. party has been posting online videos to win the hearts of voters ahead of elections in two week's time. but instead they have caused controversy and anger, even in jordan. >> reporter: islamic state fighters on the road to israel. at least that's what prime minister benjamin netenyahu is warning voters in this campaign advertisement. still, the video is meant to play for laughs when the driver stops to ask how to get to jerusalem -- [ speaking foreign ] -- the israeli driver replies turn left. the message appears to be if the center left defeats the right-wing party in the march 17th parliamentary election, isil will end up taking over. mitchell is a campaign strategist, he says netenyahu and other politicians are using the ads as an attempt to be more relatable to voters. >> he has had to soften up his image in that you can't scare all of the people all the time. so when he puts in humor about himself or an issue like isis which is a serious thing, maybe that warms people up a little

. >>> israeli prime minister benjamin netenyahu has apologized to the countries arabs about commentsmade before last week's election. kim van nel has more. >> reporter: the numbers stacked any this israeli prime minister's favor. now as benjamin netenyahu negotiating his way to forming a new government the comments he made to get there are coming back to haunt. >> translator: the right-wing government is in danger. arab voters are going to vote in droves. >> reporter: israeli palestinians make up 20% of israel's population. critics are calling his comments racist and divisive. in response he posted this on facebook. >> translator: i know the things i said a few days ago offended israel's arabs. i regret this. my actions of prime minister including the great investments in the minority sectors prove the total opposite. [ applause ] >> reporter: the alliance of mainly arab parties are threatening to file charges against netenyahu. >> translator: we didn't call the leadership of the arab population. he didn't meet them. he apologizes because there's international criticism, including cr

it comes after israeli prime minister benjamin netenyahu, urged the u.s.s to block any potential deal. >>> indonesia has transferred 11 convicted drug smugglers to an island where they will be executed. most are foreigners. our correspondent has this report. >> reporter: the silence, says it all. families of the two men are heading to indonesia to say their good-byes. they have the most powerful man in australia on their side but even he can't get indonesia to budge. >> when i spoke to the president last week i made it absolutely crystal clear what australia's position was, is and always will be. we abhor drug crime, but we abhor the death penalty. >> reporter: indonesia's president has said that drugs kill up to 50 young people every day in his country, and that's why the death row prisoners, mostly foreigners have been moved to the island where they will be shot to death. these two have had the most media attention, partly because of a moving campaign by their parents. >> everybody makes mistake. they did something stupid. they don't deserve to die. >> r

ulated benjamin netenyahu on his victory but the phone call apparently came with a warning about his pre-election comments ruling out palistinian state-hood. here is jim acata. >> the president made it clear that relations between these listening time allies may be about to change. officials said that the president told the prescribe that we may need to reassess our options. administration officials say they're furious over nth's remarks. pointing to the prime minister's rejection of a palestinian state in this interview. netenyahu said indeed. >> i would certainly acknowledge that the president is aware of the comments and noticed them. i don't think i would characterize his reaction. but i think that the -- there are obvious policy implications. >> in a post election interview aeli citizens. >> it is insisted that they will always have the right to vote. where they are threatening to deny votes. the measure the u.s. has blocked before. they are saying get over it. >> what about the administration? lukewarm. >> understand the realities of what they canner ka k not achieve. >> palest

netenyahu warned congress to avoid a deal with iran.estioning the israeli leader's credibility. saying he has no alternative to the current negotiations and dismissing his warnings about iran's nuclear program saying they are nothing new. >> republicans scrambleing to fast-track a bill. the white house making it clear the president will veto any such bill. what are the political repercussions from netenyahu's speech? let's begin with cnn senior white house correspondent, jim acosta. >> the white house knows president obama may have a tougher sales job after the speech from israeli prime minister benjamin netenyahu. the president has to convince lawmakers to loosen sanctions that would come with a nuclear agreement with iran. which is why the president presented his rebuttal from the oval office yesterday. the president dismissed the prime minister's speech as nothing new. >> on the core issue which is how

. >>> israeli prime minister, benjamin netenyahu was apologizing for comments he made about palestiniansraelis. he met with representatives of israel's minority community today. last week he complained that arabs were flooding to the polls. the remark was seen as offensive and racist. >> translator: i know that my comments offended some israeli citizens and members of the israeli arab community. this was never my intent. i apologize for this. my actions as prime minister proves the exact opposite. >>> before the election netenyahu also said there would never be a palestinian state while he is prime. he backtracked on that statement as well. >>> in europe tonight nearly everybody who is worried about the continents ailing economy is paying close attention to talks in germany. greece east new prime minister is there negotiating his country's fortunes with angela merkel. the first step for greece involves mending fences. >> reporter: a first official visit to germany for the greek prime minister. some media outlets here had called this a potential showdown. but alix tsipras was received wi

. >>> benjamin netenyahu is apologizing for comments he made about arab israelis.e met with representativesover israel's minority communities today. last week he warned that arabs were flooding to the polls. the remark was seen as of fenszive and racist. >> translator: i know that my comments last week offended some israeli citizens and members of the israeli arab community. this was never my intent. i apologize for this. my actions as prime minister including the significant investment made within our minority communities proves the opposite. >>> he also said there would never be a palestinian state while he is prime minister. he later said he remains open to a two-state solution. the white house chief of staff today said that netenyahu's conflicting statements are troubling. >>> senator ted cruz makes it official. >> i'm running for president of the united states. >> reporter: what the texas lawmaker's announcement means for the race for the white house in 2016. >>> police a confederate flag controversy, should the civil war flag be allowed on a license plate? ♪

israel election benjamin netenyahu's about face on a palestinian state. >>> putin returns.sia's leader shrugs off rumors about his mysterious ten-day disappearance. >>> and a monster cyclone wiped out much of this island nation. ♪

and anybody who doubts that should get the transcript of what prime minister netenyahu said about it last week. i think the characterization that he made of how he feels -- his country feels is very representative of how other countries in the region feel. mr. chairman that is a statement for the record. i yield back my time. thank you. >> senator paul. >> thank you mr. chairman and thank you to the panel for coming today. madison wrote that history demonstrates what the constitution supposes that the executive branch is most prone to war, and therefore the constitution vested that power in the legislature. madison also went on to further write that the separation of powers would be protected by pitting the ambitions of one branch against the ambitions of another. there will be points of dispute. these points of dispute are important, no one side will be able to declare victory. but i'm not particularly happy with being lectured to by the administration about the constitution. this is an administration who i believe has trampled the constitution at many turns. this is an administrati

he is the chief what he will say, he believes the true netenyahu was the one we saw before the election. e becoming north korea's leader. >> the prime minister is optimistic after emergency debt talks in brus sells. >> the news agency reporting that all sides are committed to extending greece's bail out. the country could face bankruptcy. i have heard that before. ♪ ♪ ecurity and control in a new and revolutionary way. introducing plug & protect from livewatch security, an easy to use wireless security system customized just for your home. control from any smartphone, tablet, or computer and monitored by professionals 24/7. go to livewatch.com to get plug & protect interactive security delivered to your door. arm or disarm your system from anywhere. lock or unlock your doors, turn your lights off or on even oversee your home with live video. with plug & protect your security system is configured, tested, and then shipped directly to your home. no wires, no installers, just peel and place. go to livewatch.com because with plug & protect we customize your security to fit your home. the pl

a scene we did not see three weeks ago when benjamin netenyahu was here to make his speech to the congress against the iranian nuclear deal. >> also joining us this morning is a senior national security fellow at the new american foundation. thanks for being with us. the president saying more than 9,000 u.s. troops are going to stay in afghanistan through 2017. should we brace ourselves for a troop presence like we see in japan or korea in >> well right now we're only talking about this for the next year. it's very unclear what that means for troop levels in 2017. but clearly, i think events both in afghanistan and in iraq where the troop levels are often rightly or wrongly compared has set the stage and made it very easy for the commander in kabul, general john come bell to ask for this troop level to be maintained at least another year. >> also another reason for maintaining the troop levels according to the "new york times" is the troop presence is needed for drone activities at cases. >> that's right. these two bases, which are very very close to the eastern border of afghanistan and t

he has always been a big proponent of israel of prime minister netenyahu speaking at the white house.he white house was not happy at all with bob menendez's demeanor during the reach -- the olive branch to cuba that happened at the end of last year. so it has never been a great relationship. >> you can't talk about controversy on either side of the aisle unless you bring up the 2016 presidential election in the process. does this controversy have a broader implication for the democratic side in 2016? >> michael, everything has a brood implication to 2016. you have to connect a couple of dots here. but let's say for the moment that bob menendez has to stand down. who will replace him? chris christie. if he has to run for president, he could put a very conservative person in there, and have bonafied bonafied bonafied bonafied were he to run for president. it all ties together. >> it does. thanks so much. >> thanks michael. >>> it seems some of in the democratic party are k looking for alternatives to hillary clinton. as david shuster tells us her use of personal email when she was secre

be the most hawkish, almost certainly because of israeli's newly elected prime minister benjamin netenyahuent a delegation to paris this past week. and is strongly opposed to a negotiation. and that view is also shared by republicans in congress, the arab gulf nations and hard liners in tehran. before he left washington, d.c. john kerry in his speech addressed those opponents of the talks. >> anybody standing up in opposition to this has an obligation to stand up and put a viable realistic alternative on the table, and i have yet to see anybody do that. >> reporter: when secretary kerry and foreign minister zarif meet again, they will be well aware that there is a coalition that want to destroy the agreement they are working to hard to reach. >>> french investigators say they are recovered audio from the cockpit voice recorder of the germanwings plane that crashed in the french alps. the state department said today, three americans were among the 150 people killed in yesterday's crash. the majority on board were french german and french. >> reporter: brought together by tragedy, the leader

the israeli prime minister netenyahu stated quote so when it comes to iran and isil the enemy of yournemy is your enemy. would you respond to that from a military perspective for me? >> well i won't respond to the prime minister's choice of words or his -- how he -- how he determines his national interest, but in terms of our national interest as i mentioned we have six things that concern us about iran. one happens to be their nuclear program. >> thank you. a follow-up on that is after two wars and 14 years later as secretary carter reminded us earlier this morning, al-qaeda still exists. that's not a criticism. it's just a reality. i would like you for you to help me define what we see from a military point what a victory is against -- with isil with regard to this aumf and our current task ahead of us. >> yeah thanks for asking senator, we actually rarely have the chance to talk about the -- the overall scheme here if you will. isil is transregional, which is to say they are not just confined to iraq and syria. they are generational. which is to suggest the duration of this campaig

honored this morning to be joined by the prime minister of the state of israel, benjamin nathaniel -- netenyahu has courage and passion. he has warned the world about the threat of militant islam, thoughts against the anti-israel a campaign at the united nations and long recognized the danger of a nuclear capable iran. not just to israel but the entire world. mr. prime minister, today with so much at stake america's pro israel community including pro israel community including more than 16,000 people in this room welcome you to washington. [applause] we are thrilled to brought family with you from jerusalem. ladies and gentlemen please welcome the wife of the prime minister, sarah netanyahu. [applause] we welcome you both to this conference in celebration of the shared interest and values of two great democracies and we stand here to send a clear message, we stand with the people of israel in their quest to stop iran. we stand with the people of israel in their quest for peace with their neighbors. [applause] and we stand with the people of israel in their quest for a brighter future. ladies an