In my opinion, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a speech to Congress on March 3 that bordered on the great. He had several advantages that most foreign visitors don’t have.

First, he was educated in the United States so he understands American idioms and popular culture. Secondly, he has a long record of service both in the Israeli Defense Forces and in the Israeli government. Thirdly, he possesses a strong voice. Fourthly, this was his third speech to Congress. Only Winston Churchill also spoke to Congress three times.

Before I answer the question posed by this column’s headline, let me list some things that the Israeli PM didn’t say.

His country has nuclear weapons, but nobody besides Muslims object because Israel is a democracy, the only one in the Middle East. Nobody thinks that Israel is the danger to the world that a nuclear Iran would be.

The PM is only weeks away from national elections in Israel. It was no accident that the speech was at 1100 hours here because that meant it would be shown in the evening hours in Israel.

It’s also no mystery why Speaker Boehner arranged this speech without consulting the White House. Neither the Israeli PM nor the Republican majorities in the House and Senate trust President Obama. Since President Obama has taken unilateral actions concerning immigration and the White House, including President Obama, has insulted Netanyahu, it would only be human nature for those two parties to want to return the favor.

Now I must get to the heart of this column. After watching the PM dissect thoroughly the logic behind the United States’ position on the negotiations, I am convinced that the Congress will not automatically approve the deal. If Congress gets involved, we’ll either get a much better deal or no deal at all.

Both outcomes would be much better than what will happen should the United States and Iran approve the present deal.

During these negotiations, our country has moved from the stance that Iran must not be able to produce nuclear weapons to a position where we will approve a certain number of centrifuges with no concessions from Iran.

There is a sunset provision in the deal after 10 years when all restrictions on Iran will be lifted. The present deal relies on inspections, but the Iranians have a long history of cheating on inspections.

Critics of Netanyahu claim that his hard stance against the present deal means that we have no alternative to a deal except going to war. That might be the case except that the price of oil is about half what it was last year. Increased sanctions and the low price of oil seriously endanger the political support that the mullahs in Tehran can muster.

In 2009, demonstrations against the Islamic regime nearly toppled the regime. The same discontent exists in Iran today just waiting for the right moment.

I recommend that everybody listen to a video of Netanyahu’s speech. Seldom has any leader besides Winston Churchill mustered language and deployed it in defense of his country. Perhaps it’s providence that Netanyahu and Churchill both were leaders at critical times for their country.

I just wish we had a leader who would inspire us to achieve great things.

I would settle for a leader who didn’t frequently criticize us and our history at home and abroad.

Michael Waldron is a retired lieutenant colonel, U.S. Army, who was born and raised in Niles. He previously served on the Niles Community School Board of Education. He can be reached at ml.waldron@sbcglobal.net.