Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu opened his weekly cabinet meeting Sunday with a searing indictment of western powers’ response to the Iranian nuclear threat, as he charged the international community with failing to “delay the progress of the Iranian nuclear project”.
Criticising delegates attending last week’s controversial convention of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) members in Tehran for not walking out in protest at Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s “continuation of his statements about the destruction of Israel”, he added that his “contemptuous and anti-Semitic remarks” added insult to injury, considering the recent report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which revealed nuclear development has not slowed in response to economic sanctions.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton last month issued a statement “strongly condemning” Ahmadinejad’s “outrageous and hateful remarks threatening Israel’s existence” and insisted that “Israel’s right to exist must not be called into question”. Calling on the leaders of the Iranian regime “to contribute to de-escalate tension and not to fuel it”, her words were echoed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, an attendee of the NAM conference in Tehran.
Addressing assembled delegates, Ban insisted the focus of members’ efforts must not just rest on lowering tensions with each other, but must also extend to preventing “conflict between all UN member states”.
“Claiming that another UN Member State, Israel, does not have the right to exist, or describing it in racist terms, is not only utterly wrong but undermines the very principles we have all pledged to uphold,” he continued.
Ban had previously been criticised for ignoring appeals to boycott the meeting in response to Iran’s threats against the Jewish State. As well as slamming unnamed NAM members for their “outrageous attempts to deny historical facts, such as the Holocaust”, however, he also used the controversial platform to appeal directly to the Iranian administration “to take the necessary measures to build international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear programme”.
The US has so far cautiously refused to fall in line with Israel’s apparent preference for a military strike on the Iranian regime, insisting that increasingly harsh economic sanctions on Iran’s crucial oil industry are powerful enough to force the Islamic state’s hardline rulers to comply with western demands. Netanyahu however told his ministers the latest nuclear findings confirmed “what we have been saying for some time – while the international sanctions are making things difficult for the Iranian economy, they are not delaying the progress of the Iranian nuclear project”.
The American position has been strongly backed by the UN, with Ban issuing a statement following the release of the IAEA’s most recent findings stressing his belief “that there can only be a diplomatic and negotiated solution to the Iranian nuclear issue which should be pursued through a reciprocal, step-by-step process”.
The recent rounds of high-level talks between the US, Great Britain, China, Russia and France, plus Germany and Iran have ground to halt following a lack of demonstrable progress on the Iranian part, to be replaced with low-level talks between junior negotiators, aimed at “finding common ground” between the two sides.
Netanyahu emphasised Sunday his much-expressed belief that “the Iranians are using the talks with the major power to gain time” in order to proceed with its nuclear ambitions, he added that “the international community is not setting Iran a clear red line and Iran does not see international determination to stop its nuclear project”.
Netanyahu has been widely criticised by disparate Israeli political figures for seemingly attempting to forge ahead with military action in Iran without US backing. After the White House professed its view that “there is still time and space for diplomacy”, former coalition partner and opposition Kadima party head Shaul Mofoz to say that “Netanyahu’s lack of faith in (US President Barack) Obama” was his main motivation in waging war on Iran.
After sending a leaked letter to the Prime Minister calling on him to justify his Iranian war aspirations, he added: “I am convinced (Obama) will do anything to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran...If there is no choice, if the US turns its back to us, Israel will make sure that the threat is removed. But we are not there yet”.
Israeli President Shimon Peres was also criticised by Netanyahu’s entourage last month for overstepping the largely ceremonial status of his role by publicly declaring Israel “cannot go it alone” in striking Iran without American backing.
A survey released by the Dialogue Institute last month found that only 32% of Israelis are in favour of a pre-emptive strike on Iran. The news came as Netanyahu’s approval rating with the Israeli electorate fell from 46% three months ago to 34% following the collapse of the coalition government and reports of an imminent attack on Iran.