Israeli Officials Furious Over Iran Deal
Her adversaries are become the head, her enemies are at ease; (Lamentations 1:5)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement on Iran from Jerusalem. PM Netanyahu denounced the world powers’ nuclear agreement with Iran as a historic mistake. (Photo by Haim Zach/ GPO/FLASH90)
At the start of his weekly cabinet meeting today, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted the US brokered deal with Iran saying, ”What was achieved last night in Geneva is not an historic agreement; it is an historic mistake.
“Today the world has become a much more dangerous place because the most dangerous regime in the world has taken a significant step toward attaining the most dangerous weapon in the world. For the first time, the world’s leading powers have agreed to uranium enrichment in Iran while ignoring the UN Security Council decisions that they themselves led. Sanctions that required many years to put in place contain the best chance for a peaceful solution. These sanctions have been given up in exchange for cosmetic Iranian concessions that can be cancelled in weeks.
‘This agreement and what it means endanger many countries including, of course, Israel. Israel is not bound by this agreement. The Iranian regime is committed to the destruction of Israel and Israel has the right and the obligation to defend itself, by itself, against any threat. As Prime Minister of Israel, I would like to make it clear: Israel will not allow Iran to develop a military nuclear capability.”
A number of other top Israeli officials have come out strongly opposing the deal struck between the P5+1 and Iran late Saturday night, according to The Times of Israel.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that the agreement has shifted the status quo in the Middle East. ‘This brings us to a new reality in the whole Middle East, including the Saudis. This isn’t just our worry’ he told Israel Radio. ‘We’ve found ourselves in a completely new situation.”
When asked if this would lead to an Israeli military strike on Iran, Lieberman said Israel ‘would need to make different decisions.’
Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz, who is responsible for monitoring Iran’s nuclear program, said there is no reason for the world to be celebrating. He said the deal, reached in Geneva early Sunday, is based on “Iranian deception and self-delusion.”
“Just like the failed deal with North Korea, the current deal can actually bring Iran closer to the bomb,” Steinitz said. “Israel cannot take part in the international celebrations based on Iranian deception and self-delusion.”
US President Barack Obama was expected to call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday to discuss the details of the deal. An unnamed source in the Prime Minister’s Office called the agreement a “bad deal that gives Iran exactly what it wants.”
Lieberman slammed the deal as not going far enough, since it does not dismantle the nuclear facilities.
“They have enough uranium to make a few bombs already,” he said.
Economics Minister Naftali Bennett called the deal “bad, very bad.”
“If a nuclear suitcase blows up five years from now in New York or Madrid, it will be because of the deal that was signed this morning,” he said on Facebook. “There is still a long campaign ahead of us. We will continue to act in every possible way.”
Finance Minister Yair Lapid panned the interim agreement and said Israel would have to work to make sure a final deal had better terms.
“This is a bad deal that does not bring even one centrifuge to a halt. I am worried not only over the deal, but that we have lost the world’s attention.”
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