Israel cautions against Iran deal
As the West’s interim deal with Iran went into force on Monday, Israel began a campaign to pressure for a harder line towards the Islamic Republic in any permanent deal.
The interim arrangement, signed in Geneva, will run for six months, after which a permanent deal is anticipated. And Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is already lobbying the West regarding the nature of a permanent deal.
Looking to dampen enthusiasm as the deal kicked in, he said on Monday: “The international community’s objective must be to stop Iran from achieving nuclear capabilities. That goal is still ahead of us.”
Netanyahu likened the process of building a bomb to a train that stops at three “stations,” representing different strengths of uranium. The Geneva agreement, he claimed, “left the train on the tracks, enabling Iran to improve and upgrade the engine by developing new centrifuges.”
He said: “When the time comes, Iran will be able to leap to the last stop faster, on an express line, without stopping at the stations on the way. In a final agreement, the international community must derail the Iranian nuclear train. Iran must not be left with the ability to build nuclear weapons.”
At the United Nations, Israel’s ambassador Ron Prosor appeared to point his finger at Iran as encouraging the increased rocket fire from Gaza to Israel. Islamist militants have launched 25 rockets towards Israel this month – significantly more than last year’s monthly average. “It doesn’t take a crime scene investigator to see Iran’s fingerprints on the violence erupting in parts of the Middle East,” Prosor said. The day after he spoke, explosions were heard in Eilat, apparently caused by rockets fired from Sinai.
Netanyahu delivered his comments on Iran during a Knesset session held to honour the visit of Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, one of Israel’s most dedicated supporters in the international arena.
Harper declared: “In the democratic family of nations, Israel represents values which our government takes as articles of faith and principles to drive our national life.”
He denounced boycotts and said that he believes that anti-Semitism has morphed into hatred for Israel. “People who would never say they hate and blame the Jews for their own failings, or the problems of the world, instead declare their hatred of Israel and blame the only Jewish state for the problems of the Middle East,” he said.
On the subject of Iran, he added, “We truly hope that it is possible to walk the Iranian government back from taking the irreversible step of manufacturing nuclear weapons, but, for now, Canada’s own sanctions will remain fully in place. And should our hopes not be realised, should the present agreement prove ephemeral, Canada will be a strong voice in the world for renewed sanctions.”
Netanyahu enthused: “In this age of hypocrisy that we live in, Canada, under your leadership, is a moral compass and a beacon of decency. You fight the attempts to deny the State of Israel’s legitimacy. You stand with us in the war against terror.”
NATHAN JEFFAY