Israeli president Shimon Peres has warned that if Iran was allowed to become a nuclear power it would cause a "nightmare" for the whole world and not just for Israel. "Iran is a danger not only for Israel but also for the rest of the world," Peres told foreign journalists. "A nuclear Iran will be a nightmare for the world," he said at a press conference held ahead of celebrations beginning later this week for the 60th anniversary of Israel's independence. Peres said that Israel did not intend to carry out any military action against Iran. "There will be no need for military action if the world community is united," he said. Peres noted a "worrying" prospect developing in Iran under its president Mahmud Ahmadinejad: the combination "of a weapon of mass destruction and a rhetoric of mass destruction."
"Nobody is threatening Iran," the Israeli president said. "On the other hand, Iran is threatening to wipe Israel off the map." On the issue of the slow-moving peace process, Peres said Israel had never given up efforts to reach peace accords with its Arab neighbours. "We would like to see peace all over the Middle East and we are ready to pay the price," said the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize winner. However, he added that there should be no dialogue between Israel and Hamas. Talks with that group "would be like talking to a wall. "I can speak to the wall, but the wall will not reply,” Peres pointed out. While Hamas might insist that Israel return to the 1967 borders, it would continue in its refusal to recognize Israel, so any attempt to talk to Hamas would be a non-starter.
Responding to a comment by Swiss foreign minister Micheline Calmy-Rey that no member of her country's government had been invited to attend the convention celebrating Israel's 60th anniversary due to Calmy-Ray's recent visit to Iran, Peres explained that invitations had not been sent to governments but to individuals, and that in fact there had been at least one invitation sent to a representative of Switzerland, Klaus Schwab, the founder and chairman of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Read about the WJC's campaign to Stop the Iranian Threat
