Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an address to the Global Forum of the American Jewish Committee, AJC, underscored Israel’s efforts – since its inception – to reach a peace agreement with its neighbors. The Israeli leader stressed that while “Israel has offered its hand in peace,” the Palestinians continue to reject those offers because they would never accept a “Jewish state.”
“Israel has offered its hand in peace with all our neighbors 70 years ago in our birth and since then many, many times. but I think that the problem we face is this: The reason we don’t have peace is not because of the absence of a Palestinian state. It’s been offered many, many times, and it’s been rejected many, many times because it always had a condition: No Jewish state. That’s why a hundred years ago, the rejections elements in Palestinian society rejected the Belfour declaration they rejected the Pill commission in the 1930’s. They rejected the Partition resolution which called for a Jewish State and an Arab State in 1947 and they rejected it ever since,” Netanyahu said.
Prime Minister Netanyahu also took the opportunity to refer to the upcoming meeting of U.S. President Donald Trump with North Korea’s leader Kim Jung-Un, drawing a parallel to an aspired deal for Pyongyang’s nuclear program to that of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Netanyahu stressed that ‘Preventing autocratic regimes with ideological, radical Islam, as their fundamental creed, from getting nuclear weapons is imperative.’
“Preventing autocratic regimes with ideological, radical Islam, as their fundamental creed, preventing them from getting nuclear weapons is very important. Dangerous regimes should denuclearize. We know that in two days, President Trump will meet Kim Jung-Un. I think the entire world, as we do, prays for the success of this effort. Now, imagine, imagine: Imagine that President Trump would come back with some deal, and Britain, France and Germany would applaud it and South Korea and Japan would say that it endangers their existence. You’d think you’d listen to this, right? So, the same thing happened with the Iran deal. This deal was applauded by many in the international community who are not in the missile range of Iran, but Israel and Saudi Arabia and others said this deal will ultimately give Iran a nuclear arsenal, and they will use it first against us, and then with the long-range missiles that they’re building and that the deal doesn’t prevent them from building, against everyone else,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu’s comments on the need to thwart Tehran’s aspirations for nuclear weapons comes amid continues efforts by the Islamic republic garner international support to preserve the 2015 nuclear agreement, which provided Tehran with much needed sanctions relief, in exchange for limiting its nuclear program. After President Trump decided to withdraw from the agreement, however, the ability to preserve the deal is more than questionable – with global corporations already pulling-out from business dealings with Iran, for fear of American sanctions.