24 October 2006
Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert has deplored the fact that Western nations do not shun Iran's leadership. "It is unconscionable that the leader of a member state of the United Nations, who calls for the destruction of another member state, continues to be accepted by the world as a legitimate leader," Olmert said at a Tel Aviv conference on Monday. He likened the threat posed by Iran's atomic ambitions to that of the nascent Nazi Germany. "We must not make the mistake of 60 years ago, by ignoring the threats made by national leaders," he said.
In Washington, Olmert's deputy, Transport minister Shaul Mofaz, has warned of the threat to Israel and Western countries if Iran's leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad realized his goal of possessing nuclear weapons. "We discussed the Iranian issue which is a threat not only against the state of Israel but it is a threat against all the Western countries," Mofaz told reporters after meeting with US secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Nicholas Burns, the State Department's number three, in charge of the Iranian nuclear issue. "The moment that Ahmadinejad will have nuclear capabilities in his hands, there will be a different world," he said, adding, "After three years of dialogue ... this is the time for sanctions." Mofaz criticized the Palestinian Authority's interior minister, Said Syiam of Hamas, who recently traveled to Iran where he met with Ahmadinejad. "I believe that the support of Iran to the Hamas and the fact that they are looking for a foothold in the Palestinian Authority is a danger for the future of Israel," he said.
Read about the WJC's campaign to Stop the Iranian Threat
