By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON, GIL HOFFMAN, JPOST.COM STAFF
The nuclear deal that the world’s leading countries reached with Iran on Tuesday will likely lead to the Islamic Republic becoming a nuclear power, but Israel can live with a nuclear Iran, because Israel is by far the strongest country in the region. So said former prime minister and defense minister Ehud Barak in an interview with Channel 2 Tuesday night.
Barak was just one of many Israeli politicians across the political spectrum who slammed the deal; MKs from the Joint List were the only ones who praised it.
“The agreement gives legitimacy to Iran to become a nuclear threshold state,” Barak said. “It allows [the Iranians] to subsidize terror and removes them from the noose of sanctions. It is fair to say that it will allow Iran to follow North Korea to become a nuclear power.”
However, while he said it was legitimate for Israeli politicians to go to the US to explain why the deal was problematic for Israel, he cautioned against interfering in American politics and said positive relations with the White House must be restored. He added that there was room to take advantage of the nuclear deal to set a new regional security order.
“We need to define, together with America, what a smoking gun is, and what is an Iranian violation,” he said. “You don’t need to be a security expert to understand that the deal changes the security situation. You need the US to reevaluate the situation and maintain and develop the military option.”
Meanwhile, opposition leader Isaac Herzog (Zionist Union) announced that he would be leaving for the US in the coming days to “demand a dramatic package of security measures for Israel.”
Voicing his disappointment over the deal at a Knesset press conference, Herzog said he had been in talks with AIPAC and other bodies in the US and that he intended to fly there as soon as possible to “clarify the nature of the risks stemming from the agreement [as pertains] to Israel and the rest of the region.”
“With regard to security, I am more extreme than [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu,” Herzog said. “In light of the situation, we must do everything within our power to improve our security. I have full confidence in the power of the State of Israel, and the unity and the power of our society to face and overcome any challenge and risks that lie in its path. Even if there are internal disputes, Israel knows how to unite and fight together for security.”
Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid intends to lobby congressmen to vote against the deal, which he said made Tuesday “a bad day for the Jewish people.”
Education Minister Naftali Bennett went further, declaring that “this day will be remembered as a black day in the history of the free world.” He spoke out against the deal on CNN, immediately after the network broadcast speeches by the American and Iranian presidents praising the deal.
“The history books have been rewritten again today, and this period will be deemed particularly grave and dangerous,” Bennett said. “Western citizens who get up for another day at work or school are not aware of the fact that about half a trillion dollars has been transferred to the hands of a terrorist superpower, the most dangerous country in the world, which has promised the destruction of nations and peoples. Today it may be us, tomorrow it may reach every country in the form of suitcase bombs in London or New York. Israel has done everything possible to warn of danger, and in the end it will follow its own interests and will do whatever it takes to defend itself.”
Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman warned that “the agreement with Iran will be remembered in history the same way as the Munich Agreement that led to World War II and the agreement with North Korea that led to its nuclearization.”
Calling the deal “a total surrender to terror and unbridled violence in the international arena,” he stressed that Israel “needs to ensure at all times and in all circumstances that it will defend itself. Today, Israel needs to remember [the Talmudic axiom]: ‘If I am not for myself, who will be for me?’” Meanwhile, the Likud criticized opposition lawmakers for assailing Netanyahu’s policies in light of the nuclear agreement.
“Instead of presenting a unified front on a fateful issue for Israel, on which there is no Right or Left, and on which everyone knows Israel’s security is at stake, some politicians are engaging in narrow political prattle at the expense of the interests of Israel,” the party said in a statement. “The prime minister never promised that there would not be a deal, only that Iran would not obtain nuclear weapons, and that promise still holds, today more than ever.”
The Joint List, however, welcomed the nuclear deal, saying in a statement that it was “a victory for the will of the Iranian people and its struggle to remove the siege and sanctions.” It added that Israel should now dismantle its own purported nuclear weapons program.
Israel’s objections to the deal are based on its aim “to remain the only country with nuclear power in the region and to distract the international community from the occupation, which is the source of tension, war and instability in the Middle East,” said the predominantly Arab party.
“We have to keep the region free from nuclear weapons,” it added.
The list’s Arab nationalist Balad party and Islamic Movement-affiliated United Arab List party signed off on the statement, even though their ideologies seem to dovetail with those of the larger Islamic and Sunni world – which opposes Shi’ite Iran’s regional ambitions and is likely to be critical of the deal.
@ bernard ross:
Bernard, there is no cure for self righteousness and
self-centered. My grandma use to say: look at your own tail before you criticize anyone.
ArnoldHarris Said:
… and how would you categorize all that “off topic” stuff you post about your old memories in Israel, or your chats about your rural life in wisconsin, or your memories of your dad and family in Russia, or your own history in the NRA, or your opinions on just about anything?????? I dont remember seeing you post any of that stuff in chit chat.
what about your regular reminiscenes about your old chum Joe Stalin with which you regale us of his many fine attributes? I am sure he would have brought the right order you desire to this disordered chaos of which you complain here.
ArnoldHarris Said:
Ted expects the adult poster to voluntarily post into chit chat but I haven’t ever seen you do that with your off topic posts, including this one. Dont worry, unlike Joe S. Ted will not send you to siberia for overlooking his rules.
I would like to suggest that you look at your own behavior before you condemn that of others. 🙂
@ honeybee:
You know as well as I do that most of this off-topic stuff degrades the tone and direction of all commentaries. Nobody gets the perfect world we all think we’re entitled to, but Ted Belman ought to have some automated software fix that would (1) automatically tag chit-chat offered up as commentary; (2) copy the chit-chat; (3) paste the chit-chat to “Chit-Chat”; (4) Replace the chit-chat in the commentary with a terse note indicating where it went; (5) do a computerized forgetaboutit.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
@ ArnoldHarris:
Tattle tail !!!!!!!
Ted, this particular blogsite conversation has gone downhill with the acceleration of mutual acrimony.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
babushka Said:
Sounds like a good idea
yamit82 Said:
No don’t cure your aberration, that what girls like about you.
@ babushka:
You are stupid!! My metal aberation can be cured your stupidity is terminal
Are you aware that John McCain was a prisoner of war for 5 1/2 years, but has spent his senate career collaborating with liberals to damage America? It is important to distinguish between a man’s military and political careers. Frequently, heroes in war make the weakest politicians.
Halevi has it right. Netanyahu has sacrificed the national interest to his self-interest. He has given narcissistic speeches instead of taking necessary action. He has damaged Israel to the point where poor yamit82 has literally gone insane.
If the IDF needs an old Jewish broad to invade Iran, strap the explosives on me and catapult me into Tehran.
@ babushka Are you aware Bibi in his youth was a commando solider who fought in battle and was wounded in battle. He rushed back from studies in the USA I believe to go to war.
I think that is the definition of a patriot.
Did you ever volunteer for the IDF?
I get people not liking politicians for their actions or inaction but Bibi cares deeply about the State of Israel.
His job is tough and he does not always do what I would like either but he certainly is a patroit
@ honeybee:
Oh my! oh my!
Yamit please come back, everything will be OK…
I IS READY to help you… I’ll take that burden off your back, Whahahahaha
honeybee Said:
😛 😛 😛
bernard ross Said:
@ SHmuel HaLevi 2:
@ rongrand:
Yamit82 8s NOT ill. It’s seems as if he has made promises that he is unable to fulfill to numerous Israeli women. I had to hide him in one of the most remote canyons in the Chinate Mts of TX [near Marfa]. where Comanche have never been and the Rangers fear to tread. He will be returning to Israel ” post haste” as the Women of Tx have rose up as one and are attempting to smote him.
Dicha of Deborah: ” He’s a hard dog to keep under the porch”.
babushka Said:
This is a unnecessary personal attack and I should have been modified.
……
…………..
@ honeybee:
😛
Ted forgot to mention that your illness is mental.
babushka Said:
Good suggestion. Who do you think meets your definition of patriot? You?… our brave gung ho patriots from across the waters. Hey come join me at ground Zero and bring your clan lets’ see how brave you are when your own asses are on the line… Been watching you bloviate for some time and when all is said and done you have been tested and found wanting. Love or hate BB he is here among us. He has rights you Zip. 😛
@ yamit82:
who loves ya Baby !!!!!!!!!!!!
Ted another comment my first in awhile in moderation and this is why I am absent from commenting
Si vis pacem, para bellum atomicum. “If you want peace, prepare for atomic war.”
The main target of Iran is the big Satan– the USA. Iran is developing ICBM’s to that purpose. Iran is not looking for a bomb but hundreds of Nukes with delivery systems. America just issued Iran a clear path to its own destruction. Criminal stupidity of historic proportions.
“The safety of the People Shall be the highest law.” (Cicero, De Legibus”
*Salus populi suprema lex, derived by Cicero from the Twelve Tables of Roman Law.
At some point, you must stop blaming the wall for hurting your skull when you deliberately head butt it. Netanyahu is obviously a typical political careerist who will say/do anything that serves his ambition. When do Israelis finally cross the Rubicon and replace him with a patriot?
American conservatives complain that their Republican elected officials are disloyal, but who keeps renominating them? If voters want to see the real problem, they should gaze into a mirror.
All that BB ever gives is promises for the future. As his promises have a tendency to never materialize I expect the same of this promise.
“a promise is a comfort to a fool”
“fool me once………etc etc etc”
How long will the sucker Jews accept this 5th column plague in their midst?
@ honeybee:
Great sauce to try HB.
I had two chile de arbol bushes for several years and they died during the construction of the new section of the apartment. Yesterday I finally located seeds for sale and bought 20 from eBay.
The science of hot pepper raising is still not up there in Israel. There is for sale good New Mexican origin Jalapenio peppers but most others are imported.
Actually the Chile de arbol seeds are from Sudan and sold from Spain.
I’ll do the sauce with some changes due to lack of supplies and let you know.
Thank you
SHmuel HaLevi 2 Said:
I agree, I wish him good health and a speedy recovery.
@ Ted Belman:
And he keeps getting spamed.
@ rongrand:Yamit has some health issues.We all wish him a speedy recovery.
@ SHmuel HaLevi 2:
Just for you Cowboy: http://www.jewishworldreview.com/ess/bbq_sauce.php3
@ bondmanp: Thank you.
The terrible failure of the embedded elites, (old MAPAI-MAPAM), is so monumental that I would not be surprised if the the TV face in chief would beg Hertzog.livni to join him to spread the blame.
@ rongrand:
I miss him very much as one of the sharpest minds I ever met. Great member of our Tribes. I wish him good health.
Here is to Yamit!
@ SHmuel HaLevi 2:
You are spot-on, SHmuel
Sure, Barak, Israel can live with a nuclear Iran. What could possibly go wrong? Here’s a tip: The “smoking gun” will most likely be Tel Aviv, a smoking pile of radioactive rubble (God forbid).
@ SHmuel HaLevi 2:
Big Question > Yamit is missing ??? What gives.
Well, Netanyahu did not want to say it himself as the coward he is, so he asked his ole pal to say it.
“The World” failed us so we have to learn now to live with a nuclear Iran”.
That is what I forecast that the gruesome unJews would say.
The people must take those deviants in, elect new tribunals and hopefully hang them all, top to bottom. On charges of high treason.