Describing Iran as a “rapacious tiger”, 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 quickly making an atomic bomb.
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The Israeli prime minister will give an address Thursday, during which he is expected to discuss the new Iran deal and the rise of terror groups in the Middle East. “For Europe, for America”, Netanyahu said.
During his speech, he fell silent for 45 seconds after slamming the United Nations General Assembly’s “deafening silence” in the face of repeated calls from Iran for the destruction of Israel. He issued a warning about the “heavy price of silence”.
The rapacious tiger, played by Iran, won’t be turned into a kitten by the Iran deal and unchaining it from global sanctions, Netanyahu said.
One day earlier, at the same podium, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of not committing to peace agreements known as the Oslo Accords and declared that Palestinians “cannot continue to be bound by these agreements”.
Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed Tourism Minister Yariv Levin to consider the plan, Channel 10 reports. We believe, as do countless American and Israeli experts, that this deal offers the best strategy to limit Iran’s nuclear abilities for the next 15 years.
“We should all remember what our past has taught us”, Putin said.
But Netanyahu called on Abbas to accept his offer and engage in direct negotiations with Israel, without preconditions.
“This deal doesn’t make peace more likely”.
Abbas’ dramatic statement, however, didn’t get the attention he might have hoped for on the worldwide stage amidst the intense focus on Iran, not to mention the chaos in Syria and the Russian attempt to shore up ally President Bashar al-Assad. “And make sure that Iran’s violations aren’t swept under the Persian rug”, Netanyahu said.
“This deal doesn’t make peace more likely”, he told world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly.
A US administration official said that Abbas had reaffirmed his commitment to a two-state solution, an aim shared by the United States.
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“Israel will not permit any force on earth to threaten its future”, he added.
