by David Brown and Lilach Shoval
White House official says Israeli position will "close the door on diplomacy" and lead to war • U.S. claims interim deal will benefit Israel • Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon: If Iran gets stronger, Hezbollah and the Islamic Jihad will get stronger.
U.S. Secretary of State John
Kerry believes the interim deal will increase Israel's security
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Photo credit: Reuters  |
A senior White House official criticized
Israel's stance on the Iran nuclear talks on Wednesday, claiming its
hard-line position would lead to war.
Speaking in a phone conference with think
tanks supportive of U.S. President Barack Obama's approach to the
nuclear issue, the official expressed frustration with Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's opposition to an interim deal that would
call for relief in select sanctions in exchange for the partial
dismantling of Iran's nuclear program. Jewish News Agency JTA was given
access to the call, on condition that its participants remain anonymous.
According to the official, Israel's demand
that Iran completely halt uranium enrichment and dismantle its
centrifuges is paving the way for war. Although he admitted that
Israel's position was logical, he said that if the Iranians were left
with the choice between a complete surrender of the nuclear program and
developing nuclear weapons, they would choose the bomb. The Israeli
stance would "close the door on diplomacy" and "essentially lead to
war," the official said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman
appealed to the six powers not to allow Iran any uranium enrichment. "As
soon as the world recognizes the so-called 'legitimate right to enrich
uranium' -- every country in the Middle East will start talking about
their own 'legitimate right to enrich uranium,' and at that moment, a
wild nuclear arms race will begin."
The current offer for an interim deal
stipulates that Iran will suspend 20 percent uranium enrichment for six
months, implying the ability to continue enriching to 3.5% and 5%, the
current stockpiles of enriched uranium would need to be "addressed,"
Iran would have to suspend construction of the Arak heavy water reactor
and to stop building and installing centrifuges. The official pointed
out that a ban on centrifuge construction will make it impossible for
Iran to continue with a military program. Intrusive inspection to ensure
Iran complies with the deal will be a condition as well. If Iran
follows through with the deal, the U.S. will unfreeze a "fraction" of
the country's frozen assets, which amount to $100 billion.
Over the last week, American officials,
including Secretary of State John Kerry, have been claiming that the
interim deal will actually increase Israel's security, despite
Netanyahu's opposing stance.
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said
Thursday to his Canadian counterpart Robert Nicholson: "We stand before
the signing of a bad deal with Iran, which will allow the regime in
Tehran to preserve its enrichment capabilities and operate without
pressure. If Iran gets stronger, Hezbollah and the Islamic Jihad will
get stronger. These are forces that will challenge both the West and
us."
According to Ya'alon, "The Iranians want,
under the cover of the nuclear umbrella that they will have, to advance
their terror activities, such as using a ‘dirty bomb’ at various targets
in the Western world. Therefore, we must not tolerate the possibility
of a nuclear Iran. One way or another, Iran’s military nuclear project
must be stopped."
Ya'alon said that continuing with sanctions and tough diplomacy is the best way to ensure the military option is not needed.
David Brown and Lilach Shova
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=13511
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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