by Shlomo Cesana, Boaz Bismuth and Israel Hayom Staff
PM Benjamin Netanyahu: Why does Iran need centrifuges and enriched uranium? Only to produce nuclear weapons • Israeli officials react to Brig. Gen. (res.) Uzi Eilam • Ehud Barak in U.S.: Iran's nuclear sites can be destroyed in "less than one night."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
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"We have the ability to defend ourselves, but we know that the best defense against nuclear weapons in the hands of Iran is Iran not having its hands on nuclear weapons," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday at a ceremony in Netanya marking the 69th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany.
"For what do they need the thousands of centrifuges?" Netanyahu asked. "For what do they need the tons of enriched uranium? Only to produce nuclear weapons."
Meanwhile, high-level Israeli political officials were surprised by statements made by Brig. Gen. (res.) Uzi Eilam, who headed Israel's Atomic Energy Commission for a decade. In an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth, Eilam downplayed the Iranian nuclear threat.
"The Iranian nuclear program will only be operational in another 10 years," Eilam was quoted as saying. "Even so, I am not sure that Iran wants the bomb."
Eilam also accused Netanyahu of using the Iranian nuclear issue for political purposes.
But in past interviews, Eilam sounded a different tune. In a radio interview with Nissim Mishal in October 2013, Eilam said, "I think the government should give the talks with Iran a chance, but it should not give up anything until we see something real in terms of a change of direction [by Iran]. And what [Iran] receives in return should be minimal."
Also in October 2013, Eilam said in an interview with Channel 1's Ayala Hasson, "I do not believe in [President Hassan] Rouhani."
In that interview, Eilam said sanctions on Iran must be continued and that the Iran nuclear issue must be managed wisely.
"It is not only uranium [enrichment] that must be ended," Eilam said. "I was happy to hear Netanyahu at the U.N. General Assembly also speak about plutonium."
"There is nothing to talk about [with Iran] if it does not stop [development of nuclear weapons]," Eilam said.
In a December 2011 interview with the Russian website Trend, Eilam said Iran was capable of developing a nuclear weapon "within a couple of months."
On Thursday, Israeli officials pointed out recent statements by U.S. officials that contradict Eilam's assertions. In April, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Iran has a nuclear breakout window of "about two months." In January, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said: "Tehran has made technical progress in a number of areas -- including uranium enrichment, nuclear reactors, and ballistic missiles -- from which it could draw if it decided to build missile-deliverable nuclear weapons."
"These technical advancements strengthen our assessment that Iran has the scientific, technical and industrial capacity to eventually produce nuclear weapons," Clapper said. "This makes the central issue its political will to do so."
Meanwhile, former Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Thursday that if nuclear negotiations with Iran fail, all options are on the table. Speaking at the Weinberg Founders Conference in Washington, Barak said Iran's nuclear facilities could be destroyed in "less than one night" by a military strike.
Shlomo Cesana, Boaz Bismuth and Israel Hayom Staff
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=17397
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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