In an impassioned speech interspersed with bouts of dramatic silence, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday condemned the Iran nuclear deal as empowering Tehran to spread further unrest in the Mideast while leaving the country capable of making an atomic bomb.
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It was not immediately clear, however, how serious the offer was, given Israel’s continuing programme of settlement building in the West Bank that Mr Netanyahu has refused to halt. If Iran’s terror proxies were flying thousands of rockets at your cities, perhaps you’d be more measured in your praise.
Netanyahu, affectionately known to his fellow Israelis as Bibi, addressed diplomats on the controversial nuclear de-escalation deal recently signed by Iran and six world powers – the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany. “I hope he changes his mind”.
Israeli leaders had demanded that the deal include a provision requiring Iran to recognize Israel as a state, but President Barack Obama called that a “fundamental misjudgment”. “In the wake of the nuclear deal, Iran is spending billions of dollars on weapons and satellites”.
Though the Iran nuclear deal has won wide worldwide support, Netanyahu has come out a strong global opponent.
Offering more concrete suggestions about how to deal with Iran, Netanyahu urged the world to remain vigilant against future Iranian aggression and efforts to wiggle out of nuclear safeguards.
Netanyahu went on to say, “Once global sanctions are lifted, unleashed and unmuzzled, Iran will go on the prowl”.
“This leaves us no choice but to insist that we will not remain the only ones committed to the implementation of these agreements, while Israel continuously violates them”, he said.
The growing Palestinian frustration and appeared aimed at focusing the attention of the global community on the long-festering Israeli-Palestinian conflict is what Abba’s speech reflected upon. “I know it’s hard”, said Netanyahu, whose government is one of Israel’s most right wing ever. “Other silence. Deafening silence”.
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“Israel made the American initiative a failing in spite of the attempts of US Secretary of State John Kerrey because Israel refused to release the fourth group of prisoners that was agreed upon”, he said.
