"Israel's staunchest Ally" Pres Obama threatens to veto Iran sanctions legislation.

"Israel's staunchest Ally" Pres Obama threatens to veto Iran sanctions legislation.HT: IsraelMatzav.

In his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, President Hussein Obama threatened to veto any Iran sanctions legislation passed by Congress.

"Let me be clear," Obama said: "If this Congress sends me a new sanctions bill now that threatens to derail these talks, I will veto it."

The speech marked the first time Obama personally threatened to veto sanctions legislation against Iran. Senior White House aides have issued similar veto threats since the end of December, when Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Robert Menendez, a Democrat, introduced the Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act of 2013.

The bill— which would trigger new sanctions tools against Iran should negotiations fail to reach a comprehensive agreement in twelve months time— has since garnered 59 public cosponsors in the upper chamber across party lines. The bill also has the aggressive backing of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the largest pro-Israel lobby in Washington.

"For the sake of our national security," Obama said Tuesday night, in his State of the Union address, "we must give diplomacy a chance to succeed."

The president noted in his speech that negotiations toward a treaty over Iran's nuclear program, now a decade old, would be difficult and "may not succeed." In prior remarks, Obama has put the odds of success in negotiations with Iran at less than 50 percent.

"If Iran’s leaders do not seize this opportunity, then I will be the first to call for more sanctions, and stand ready to exercise all options to make sure Iran does not build a nuclear weapon," Obama continued. "But if Iran’s leaders do seize the chance, then Iran could take an important step to rejoin the community of nations, and we will have resolved one of the leading security challenges of our time without the risks of war."

So it will take 100-0 vote in the Senate like in 2011? Senator Mark Kirk (R-Il) - one of the two main co-sponsors - is ready.

"The American people – Democrats and Republicans alike – overwhelmingly want Iran held accountable during any negotiations," Kirk said in a statement. Polls show that while most Americans don't prioritize foreign policy matters, they view Iran with deep distrust, and support more sanctions over less.

"While the president promises to veto any new Iran sanctions legislation, the Iranians have already vetoed any dismantlement of their nuclear infrastructure," Kirk added, calling his bill an "insurance policy" for Congress.

A new poll published by the Zionist Organization of America shows that overwhelming majorities of Americans (NOTE - NOT American Jews) back Israel against President Obama on every major issue of the day involving the Jewish state.

The National Omnibus Poll, conducted by McLaughlin Associates and published on January 17, 2014, surveyed a large, nationwide cross-section of 1000 Americans, consisting of Protestants (46%), Catholics (30%), Jews (3.6%), African Americans (13%), Hispanics (12%), Asians (3%) and Whites (70%). Politically, the respondents were 42% Democratic supporters and 41% Republican supporters.

The poll found that:

To the question, “Iran continues to call for Israel’s destruction and calls America the Great Satan. Do you believe that President Obama has done all he can to prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons?,” a majority of 51% of Americans believe that President Obama has not done all he can to prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons, as opposed to a mere 28% who believe that he has (almost a 2 ––1 ratio).

To the question, “Should the United States pass stronger sanctions against Iran or should they weaken sanctions in order to convince Iran to stop developing nuclear weapons?,” a large majority of 59% of Americans reply that the U.S. should impose stronger sanctions, as opposed to a mere 17% who believe the U.S. should weaken sanctions on Iran (almost a 3.5 –– 1 ratio).