By John Hudson, Mar. 2, 2015

I was a tough message before a tough crowd.

On Monday night, White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice made the case for a diplomatic solution to preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon — an argument that rankled many of the 16,000 activists who flooded Washington for the annual confab of the most powerful pro-Israel lobbying organization in the country.

Rice’s remarks, at the policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, were a direct rebuttal to a series of bills supported by AIPAC over the last year that the White House has threatened to veto for fear the legislation would derail the delicate nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers, the so-called P5+1. One such proposal demanded that any deal prohibit Iran from enriching any uranium on its soil — a high bar, backed by Israel, which Rice called “neither realistic nor achievable.”