Feinstein: Netanyahu should ‘contain himself’

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) took direct aim at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday for his attempt to derail a long-awaited international nuclear deal with Iran.

“I wish that he would contain himself, because he has put out no real alternative,” Feinstein said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Feinstein, vice chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, slammed Netanyahu for urging President Obama and other leaders to reject the deal without proposing specific ways to improve it.

“I don’t think it’s helpful for Israel to come out and oppose this one opportunity to change a major dynamic, which is downhill, in this part of the world,” she said just minutes after Netanyahu appeared on the same program.

Under the current terms, the U.S. and European nations would lift sanctions on Iran in return for limitations on material and technology that could be used to make a nuclear weapon. International monitors would also be able to closely watch Iran’s program, though Netanyahu argued it leaves Israel vulnerable.

“I think that this kind of absolutist, ‘Well, no deal is better than a bad deal, but we don’t know what a good deal would be,’ and ‘No, we have no suggestions’ is not very helpful, candidly,” Feinstein said, warning that the move could “backfire” on him.

Feinstein said she was optimistic that the framework reached by President Obama and other international leaders, while noting, “Obviously, it’s a compromise.”

“It’s a better agreement, candidly, that I ever thought it was going to be,” she said. “It can signal a new day.”