US defense secretary promises Netanyahu
that Tehran will not be allowed to achieve nuclear weapons
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) meets with US Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel, at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem.
Meeting with US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel Friday morning in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Iran was continuing to develop its nuclear weapons capability and intercontinental ballistic missiles.
“We’ve been saying all along that Iran is trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the international community,” Netanyahu said, “so I wasn’t surprised and I’m sure you weren’t surprised by the recent UN report on Iran’s ongoing efforts to deceive the international community, to continue to develop its ICBMs and to continually violate its commitments of Security Council stipulations on forbidding it to develop certain parts of its nuclear program.
“They continue to do that, and I think that requires very clear and firm policy on the part of the world powers, the P5+1, and I think as the talks with Iran continue, one thing must guide the international community, and that is we must not let the Ayatollahs win. We must not let the foremost terrorist state of our time, Iran, develop the capability to produce nuclear weapons.”
Turning to the Palestinians, the prime minister said that the PA cannot have peace with both Israel and Hamas.
“One of the things we have found unfortunately is that our Palestinian neighbors are moving ahead in a pact with Hamas,” Netanyahu emphasized. “The United States has designated Hamas rightly as a terrorist organization, and obviously the Palestinians cannot have a pact with Hamas and peace with Israel.
“We’re concerned too that in both Gaza and in the PA-controlled areas, there is continual incitement and propaganda against the very existence of the Jewish state. A recent ADL study, published a few days ago, talks about the fact that in both places, anti-Semitic incitement is the most troubling on the planet, and that is something that I think hinders peace. I think the Palestinians have to make a simple choice, a pact with Hamas or peace with Israel, but they can’t have both.”
Hagel responded by assuring the prime minister that America would not let Iran build a nuclear weapon.
“America’s commitment to Israel’s security is resolute, and as you noted, the military exercise that I visited yesterday with Defense Minister Ya’alon demonstrates that commitment very completely. It also demonstrates the cutting edge work our countries are doing together on rocket and missile defense, and I appreciate your comments on that point – work that has strengthened Israel’s security and saved lives, and I want to assure you,
Prime Minister and the people of Israel, of the United States’ continued commitment to ensuring Iran does not get a nuclear weapon, as President Obama has said, and that America will do what we must to live up to that commitment.”
Later Friday, Hagel met with President Shimon Peres.
“The problems we are facing are serious but we can and we should manage them,” Peres said. “President Obama said the US shouldn’t be the policemen of the world and I agree, the US should be the peacemaker of the world. No one can replace you. Your armed forces are to keep the world peaceful.”
Hagel’s visit comes after stops in Saudi Arabia and Jordan, where he also promised to keep Iran from achieving nuclear weapons capability.
The stop in Saudi Arabia was designed to calm Gulf states that feel vulnerable to Iran’s influence and are frustrated at US policy on Syria, which has not yet included weapons or other lethal aid in the three-year civil war. Washington also wants to foster more effective, practical forms of defense cooperation on the Arabian Peninsula by integrating their air and missile defense systems.
Hagel addressed the Iran issue at the outset of a meeting of defense ministers from the Gulf states allied with Washington, including Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Hagel promised the Gulf leaders that “under no circumstances” will the international negotiations with Iran this week in Vienna “trade away regional security for concessions on Iran’s nuclear program.”
“We will continue to hold Iran accountable for its destabilizing activities across the region,” he added. “And we will continue working closely with all of our friends and partners in the Gulf to reinforce their defenses against these destabilizing activities.”
Despite fears, only minor clashes between IDF and Palestinians
PA security forces feared widespread violence after funerals of two youths killed Thursday in Nakba Day demonstrations
Palestinian protesters throw stones at an Israeli military tower during a rally marking Land Day at the main entrance to the Qalandiya checkpoint, in the West Bank, March 2013.
Despite fears over widespread violence, clashes between IDF soldiers and Palestinian youths were relatively restrained Friday. Nablus and the Qalandiya checkpoint near Ramallah saw the worst of the unrest, but no injuries were reported.
Calls by the Palestinian security forces for youth to refrain from friction with Israeli soldiers, and advance deployment by Israeli forces, seemed to have been effective in keeping the demonstrations from spinning out of control.
PA forces had been especially worried that the riots could cause friction with IDF forces after Friday prayers. The fears of more unrest came after two teens were killed Thursday during Nakba Day demonstrations outside Ofer prison near Ramallah.
The Palestinian Authority declared a national day of mourning Friday in order to allow mass participation in the funerals of the two slain youths.
Unconfirmed reports named the two as Nadem Syam, 17, and Mohamad Odeh, 15. At least three others were injured in the skirmish.
Palestinians said the two had been killed by live ammunition, but Border Police sources insisted troops had only used rubber-coated bullets. The IDF said it was investigating the incident.
Nakba (Catastrophe) Day is observed by Palestinians and their supporters to commemorate their displacement following the establishment of the State of Israel.
A senior Palestinian source had warned Thursday that security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority is on the verge of collapse following the fatal clashes. The source, in a conversation with The Times of Israel, said that recent, “dangerous” developments on the ground — notably the killing of two Palestinians in Nakba Day demonstrations earlier in the day — has already led to heavy pressure on the Palestinian leadership to immediately sever ties with Israel’s security apparatuses.
The source said that there was coordination between the two sides ahead of the Thursday demonstrations, but that wasn’t enough to prevent the fatalities. He added that, during discussions with Israeli defense officials in the wake of the incident, the PA was assured that an investigation would be launched into what caused the fatalities and whether soldiers had fired live ammunition.
But even if they didn’t die of live fire, the source said, Fatah and other organizations were demanding that Palestinian defense officials cease coordination with Israel.
“We don’t want an escalation,” he said. “But understand that the situation on the ground is on the brink of exploding.
“We can act to calm the [people’s] sentiments, but it only takes one bullet to raise these feelings again,” he continued, noting that the PA has been organizing meetings to address continued security coordination with Israel. “We aren’t the South Lebanon Army,” said the source, a reference to the militia group Israel once used as a proxy in southern Lebanon against the PLO and Hezbollah. “You must do something here in order to stabilize the situation. [There is] ongoing construction in the settlements, a refusal to freeze construction, and continued mistreatment of Palestinians.
“There is now a hunger strike among the prisoners and the whole situation is very volatile,” continued the source. “We say to you, if conditions continue like this, we will pass over to you the mechanisms [of control] and you will have to deal with the situation.”
Sources in the IDF and the defense establishment refused to comment directly on the situation, although they warned that stopping security cooperation could damage the Palestinian side and the economic situation of West Bank residents. The Israeli sources lauded the continued security coordination, since, they said, it serves the interests of both sides.
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