PM Bennett to Iran: ‘Impossible to sit peacefully in Tehran and ignite the Middle East. That is over’
“The Iranians need to understand that it is impossible to sit peacefully in Tehran and from there ignite the entire Middle East. That is over,” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stated in response to the most recent Iranian attack in the Gulf of Oman.
Minister of Education Naftali Bennet at the 15th Jerusalem Conference. Feb 12, 2018. Photo by Hillel Maeir/TPS *
An Iranian suicide drone is believed to have hit the oil tanker Mercer Street on Thursday night, a ship operated by Zodiac Maritime, a company owned by Israeli tycoon Eyal Ofer, killing a British and Romanian national.
Bennett visited IDF Northern Command headquarters on Tuesday together with IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi. GOC Northern Command Maj.-Gen. Amir Baram and GOC Operations Maj.-Gen. Oded Basiuk briefed them on the situation in the north, including IDF preparedness in the sector and the situations in Lebanon and Syria.
“Immediately after the Iranian attack on the ship, we shared our intelligence with our friends in the US, the UK and elsewhere. While nobody has any doubt who is behind the incident, we provided hard evidence just to be sure,” he said.
“At the same time, unfortunately, an EU representative intends to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the new Iranian president, Raisi. Raisi is the most extreme Iranian president of them all, and the competition is tough. From here, I call on the EU: One cannot talk about human rights and simultaneously honour a murderer, a hangman, who has eliminated hundreds of opponents of the regime,” he said.
Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lior Haiat stated Monday evening that Raisi has “the blood of thousands of Iranian citizens on his hands and the EU participation gives legitimacy to the Iranian attack and the policy of aggression of the ayatollahs’ government.”
Regarding the attack on the ship and Iranian aggression in general, Bennett said that Israel is “working on enlisting the world but at the same time, we also know how to act alone.”
“Iran already knows the price that we exact when someone threatens our security. The Iranians need to understand that it is impossible to sit peacefully in Tehran and from there ignite the entire Middle East. That is over,” he warned.
“The significant increase in the defence budget, in the IDF budget, which we passed just this week, reflects this. Against Iran, speeches are not enough – we need a strong IDF and for that, we need to invest considerable resources, which we are doing,” he added.
Senior Israeli and US defence officials met on Monday following an Iranian attack on an Israeli-owned ship last week in the Gulf of Oman and ahead of a possible reprisal attack on Iran.
IDF Chief of the General Staff LTG Aviv Kochavi spoke on Monday with CENTCOM commander General Frank McKenzie, and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met on Monday in Washington with Israeli National Security Advisor Dr Eyal Hulata.
Israel, the US, the United Kingdom, and Romania have all blamed Iran for the attack on the ship.
Israel may respond militarily with an attack on an Iranian target.
