“Israel isn’t pinning its hopes on an agreement with an extremist regime like Iran. With or without an agreement we will do everything so Iran isn’t armed with nuclear weapons.”
By LAHAV HARKOV
FEBRUARY 23, 2021 13:41
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the memorial service for the 1920 Battle of Tel Hai, February 23, 2021.
(photo credit: DAVID COHEN/FLASH 90)
Israel will not rely on efforts to return to a nuclear deal with Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.
“Israel isn’t pinning its hopes on an agreement with an extremist regime like [Iran]. We already saw what these agreements are worth…with North Korea,” Netanyahu said at a memorial service for the 1920 Battle of Tel Hai.
“With or without an agreement,” he added, “we will do everything so [Iran isn’t] armed with nuclear weapons.”
Netanyahu referred to the story of Purim, which begins on Thursday night: “2,500 years ago, a Persian oppressor tried to destroy the Jewish people, and just as he failed then, you will fail today…We didn’t make a journey of thousands of years to return to the Land of Israel in order to allow the delusional Ayatollahs’ regime to finish the story of the rebirth of the Jewish People.”
Netanyahu’s remarks came a day after he met with Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, Ambassador to the US Gilad Erdan and others, to discuss Israel’s strategy and response to the Biden administration’s attempted rapprochement with Iran.
In recent days, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement with the European countries party to the 2015 Iran Deal that the US is seeking to start a dialogue with Iran and move towards a return to that agreement. Officials in Washington have called on Iran to return to compliance with the deal before the US would remove sanctions.
Officials in the meeting were split on whether Israel should advocate for the US to stay out of the Iran Deal until it can get a better, more secure agreement, or be more supportive of what US President Joe Biden’s stated plan is, to rejoin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the 2015 deal is known, and then negotiate tougher terms. Netanyahu reportedly took the first, harder line, while Gantz and Ashkenazi supported a less-confrontational approach.
Content retrieved from: https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/netanyahu-after-iran-strategy-meeting-nuclear-agreement-is-worthless-659897.