PM: Israel will not sit idly by as Iran advocates its annihilation - Shlomo Cesana

by Shlomo Cesana

"Israel is a tiger not a rabbit, and when you threaten to destroy us, you place yourself in grave danger," PM Netanyahu tells Kazakh president in message to Iran • Israel-Kazakhstan relations "part of this great change the world is waiting for," PM says.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev | Photo credit: Haim Zach / GPO

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Wednesday with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in the central Asian republic's capital, Astana. 

Netanyahu is the first Israeli prime minister to visit Kazakhstan. The visit came on the second day of Netanyahu's three-day trip to central Asia, which also included a visit to Azerbaijan. 

Nazarbayev reportedly asked Netanyahu if he would like him to relay a message to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, with whom the Kazakh president is scheduled to meet in the coming weeks. 

"Ask him why Iran continues to threatened Israel with annihilation. [Ask him:] Don't you know who you're dealing with?" Netanyahu replied. 

"Israel is a tiger, not a rabbit, and when you threaten to destroy us, you place yourself in grave danger. Ask him, why do they persist in this? Tell him that if they change their attitude toward Israel, we will change our attitude toward Iran. But they have to understand that we will not sit idly by as long as they advocate our annihilation." 

Netanyahu, who met with Nazarbayev to sign an agricultural cooperation treaty and a memorandum of understanding for cooperation on visas, said that Israel plans to lobby to become a member of the U.N. Security Council in 2019, and is asking for Kazakhstan's support.

"We supported Kazakhstan's successful bid for a seat on the Security Council, and now, if you want to see real change in the world, imagine the State of Israel on the Security Council," Netanyahu said.

He said that as a nation with a Muslim majority, Kazakhstan's solid ties with Israel "reflect a better future."

"This example of cooperation between Jews and Muslims reverberates throughout the world. The relationship between us and our Arab and Muslim neighbors is changing dramatically. Not everything is public, but things are changing dramatically, and I see the ties with Kazakhstan as part of this great change the world is waiting for," Netanyahu said.

"The world wants to see the forces of progress, solidarity and friendship, not the forces of intolerance, repression and terror."

Shlomo Cesana

Source:

Follow Middle East and Terrorism on Twitter

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.