First Publish: 8/24/2012
Moshe Yaalon
As the
debate continues over Iran’s nuclear program and a possible Israeli strike on
its nuclear facilities, Strategic Affair
Minister Moshe Ya’alon on Thursday placed the responsibility on the United
States if the Islamic Republic realizes its nuclear ambitions.
“History will judge whether the United
States stood in the face of the Shiite threat and prevented the Iranian
military nuclear capability in time,”
Ya’alon said during a forum at the Gordon College of Education
in Haifa. “A Middle East with a nuclear Iran is a Middle East with nuclear
chaos.”
He added, “A nuclear Iran is a threat to world
stability, and anyone who is concerned for the stability
of the world should oppose a nuclear Iran,
The challenge of Iran is not just an Israeli one; the Iranian regime challenges the
Western civilization and the current world order. This is not a conflict between Iran and Israel, but between Iran and America and Western culture. This
issue cannot be taken off our agenda and be swept under the carpet.”
While
Minister Ya'alon refused to say whether he is for or against an Israeli attack,
he hinted that the diplomatic efforts must be exhausted.
“The decision between a bomb and bombing
comes at the end of the process,” he
said. “Diplomatic
isolation, more sanctions, a credible military threat – these need to do their
job. If the Iranian regime will face the
dilemma of having to choose between a bomb and survival, it will choose
survival.”
Ya’alon
emphasized, “I have gone through many wars and war is the last option.
But when you recognize that in this matter there were quite a few moments of
weakness from the Western world, and it was perceived as such by the Iranian
regime, it is necessary to raise the issue.”
He also criticized the statements of former top
officials in the defense system, such as former IDF Chief of Staff Gabi
Ashkenazi, who said that Iran does not yet possess a
nuclear weapon
capability. Other former officials have said outright that Israel should not
strike Iran.
“I was very sorry to hear the statements
by those former officials,” said Ya’alon.
“I'm in an environment where
decisions are made rationally and not in a messianic way. I didn’t like some of the recent
statements, including the ones from ministers who are currently serving in the government. I
suggest we stop the chatter about Israel’s options.”
Israel and
the U.S. are disagreeing regarding the path that should be taken to deal with
the Iranian threat. While Israel appears to be in favor of an attack, the U.S. has made it clear that it believes there is still time
for diplomacy.
State
Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters on Wednesday, “We believe
there is still time for diplomacy to work, but we need to see a better effort
from the Iranians to answer the concerns that we’ve had. So, we are focused on
trying to have this dual-track policy of diplomacy backed by pressure work, and
we are still focused on that.”
The
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, said this week that
Israel and the United States view the Iranian nuclear threat
differently.
“Israel
sees the Iranian threat more seriously than the U.S. sees it, because a nuclear
Iran poses a threat to Israel's very existence,” Dempsey said, adding that he
and his Israeli counterpart, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, regularly confer
on the issue.
“We speak
at least once every two weeks, we compare intelligence reports, we discuss the
security implications of the events in the region,” said Dempsey, adding, “At
the same time, we admit that our clocks ticking at different paces. We have to
understand the Israelis; they live with a constant suspicion with which we do
not have to deal.”
On Thursday
it was reported that Iran has accelerated its activities at the Fordo underground nuclear site
near Qom.
The
information, revealed by international diplomats, comes several days before
the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog agency, the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA), is set to publish a new report on Iran’s nuclear program. According to the diplomats, the report will say
that Iran has installed new centrifuges at the Fordo uranium enrichment facility.
No comments:
Post a Comment