Iran deal: Israel’s leaders share the same view and Netanyahu has his say

July 15, 2015 by J-Wire News Service
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Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition chairman Isaac Herzog are united in their opposition to the Iran deal.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,  met with opposition chairman MK Isaac Herzog and updated him on the briefings that were given at the Security Cabinet regarding the security significance of the nuclear agreement with Iran.

MK Herzog reiterated his afternoon remarks and said that this is a bad agreement. He added that he would do his utmost on behalf of the security of the State of Israel in the new situation that has been created.

Isaac Herzog     Photo: Wikipedia

Isaac Herzog Photo: Wikipedia

Prime Minister Netanyahu told opposition chairman Herzog that the fact that there is agreement between the coalition and the opposition in Israel regarding the danger that this agreement poses to Israel’s security is especially important at this time. He said that it is important to show the world a united front on this issue, which is linked to Israel’s most significant national interest.

Following a security cabinet meeting last night, Netanyahu issued the following statement: “I come here from a discussion in the Security Cabinet. The Cabinet unanimously rejected the major powers’ nuclear agreement with Iran and it determined that Israel is not bound by it. This evening I also spoke with US President Barack Obama. I expressed Israel’s two major concerns regarding this agreement, after having examined it.

One, the agreement allows Iran to develop extensive capabilities that will serve it in arming itself with nuclear weapons whether at the end of the period of the agreement in another 10-15 years, or earlier if it violates the agreement. Two, the agreement channels hundreds of billions of dollars to Iran’s terrorism and war machine, a war that is directed against us and against others in the region.

The world’s leading powers have gambled on our common future in a deal with the main financer and operator of global terrorism. This is an historic mistake! We were right when we said that the desire to sign an agreement is apparently stronger than anything else; therefore, we did not commit to prevent the agreement. We did commit to prevent Iran from arming itself with nuclear weapons – and this commitment stands.

The claim heard from political elements to the effect that the personal relationship between myself and President Obama affected the nuclear agreement is absurd. Even before I took office as Prime Minister, there was an intention on the part of the American administration to normalize relations with Iran. Afterward, the US began secret negotiations with Iran which then became open. Of course, the desire to make an agreement brought about the result that it did.

On the other hand, over the past two decades, even when I was not Prime Minister and afterwards when I was Prime Minister, I did everything in my ability, everything in Israel’s ability, to prevent Iran from arming itself with nuclear weapons. This activity embraced many fields. First of all, together with other elements, we led the imposition of sanctions – and afterwards the biting sanctions – against Iran. At the UN, I drew a red line for the high enrichment of uranium and Iran has yet to cross it. My speech to the US Congress put the problem of Iran on an international and domestic American platform in a way that became a subject for discussion and demanded answers. And of course we are making efforts today as well to explain that this agreement is flawed and that it endangers the peace of the world.

The pressure that we applied and the actions that we undertook over the years led to the fact that Iran did not arm itself with nuclear weapons and I can safely say that were it not for Israel’s actions, including by governments that I led, Iran would have already armed itself with nuclear weapons. And therefore, at present there is one mission – to ensure that it does not arm itself with nuclear weapons in the future. And at this time, in the face of such a mission, we cannot indulge in petty politics and false accusations.

This is the time to unite and create a united front on a fateful issue for the future of the State of Israel. In any case, we will continue to defend ourselves by ourselves against all who threaten our destruction.”

In Australia executive director of The Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council Dr Colin Rubenstein said: “AIJAC is deeply concerned that the deal announced between Iran and the P5+1 will further destabilise the Middle East. It seems likely that it will only delay but not prevent Iran’s ability to obtain nuclear weapons,  while also providing Teheran with a large amount of new resources to continue its efforts at destabilising regional neighbours and in supporting  terrorism. The deal is likely to contribute to a nuclear arms race amidst a volatile region, while worsening the violent sectarian conflicts which are already devastating the Middle East.”

Rubenstein added: “This deal will unravel the international sanctions against Iran which have been the most important component in slowing Iran’s nuclear program and bringing it to the table for negotiations while licensing Iran to be a nuclear threshold state poised to build nuclear weapons whenever the regime feels the time is right.  The  ‘ ‘managed ‘ inspection  arrangements do not look robust enough to guarantee that cheating by Iran – which has been present in all past nuclear agreements with Teheran – can be quickly and decisively caught. Meanwhile, the hope that international sanctions will be  able to simply ‘snap back’  if Iran transgresses the agreement appears highly unlikely to work in practice, once sanctions are eased and business relations with Iran start to normalise.

“This deal risks empowering a tyrannical regime that is a leading state sponsor of global terrorism, a serial proliferator in violation of international law, and a major source of regional destabilisation –  as well as one which continues to commit grave human rights abuses. AIJAC calls upon both the US Congress, and all governments of goodwill around the world, including Australia’s, to subject the deal to maximum scrutiny and meticulous consideration before its enactment, and the most careful and strict monitoring and enforcement in the event it is enacted. This is too fateful an issue to allow eagerness to reach a diplomatic resolution to undermine the essential interests of the global community in preventing proliferation and destabilisation in the world’s most volatile and dangerous region,” he concluded.

 

Comments

2 Responses to “Iran deal: Israel’s leaders share the same view and Netanyahu has his say”
  1. Paul Winter says:

    How very polite and, oh so diplomatic, our leaders (???) are in whining about a stab in the back with a large mouthful of spit to wipe a bit of the blood away. Obama’s eager, humble and deliberate caving in to Khamenei’s terms of surrender reveal him and his regime to be supporters of revolutionary islam. Obama and his cynical trade oriented cronies in the P5+1 gang have betrayed the only democracy in the ME, their own people’s security and what few principles they still pretend to have.

    Netanyahu should have had more testicular fortitude and bombed Iran right after Obama’s Cairo speech. Israel should also have taken the mullahcracy before an international tribunal for violating the Genocide convention and complained to the Security Council for Iran’s violation of its UN membership with its extermination threats against a fellow UN member state.

  2. Rabbi Pinchos Woolstone says:

    Maybe Netanyahu should consider bringing Herzog into government at this critical time.
    Israel without a doubt, has a comprehensive contingency plan, if/when Iran moves forward to create bombs that can reach Israel and beyond
    No mercy will be shown if the Jewish People are threatened.
    May G-d protect our Nation and all peoples of the world.

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