Iran Nuclear Plan: Israel Reacts

April 3, 2015

The following are excerpted statements by Israeli officials on the nuclear framework that was announced by the world’s six major powers and Iran on April 2.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

 

Interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press”
 
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: I'm not trying to kill any deal. I'm trying to kill a bad deal. And you say it's a historic decision, a historic deal, it could be historically bad deal. Because it leaves the preeminent terrorist state of our time with a vast nuclear infrastructure. Remember, not one centrifuge is destroyed, thousands of centrifuges will be left spinning uranium.
 
Not a single facility, including underground facilities, nuclear facilities, is being shut down. This is a deal that leaves Iran with the capacity to produce the material for many, many nuclear bombs, and it does so by lifting the sanctions pretty much up front.
So Iran will have billions of dollars flown to its coffers not for schools or hospitals or roads, but to pump up its worldwide terror machine and its military machine, which is busy conquering the Middle East as we speak. The preeminent terrorist state of our time should not have access to a vast nuclear capability that will ultimately give them nuclear weapons. That's a concern for Israel, for the region, for the peace of the world.
 
CHUCK TODD: Let me ask you this, though. You have a deal that was negotiated by the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France, Germany, all of them on one side of this deal. You're on the other. Are you concerned that Israel's being isolated from the world community on this issue?
 
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: No, I don't. Look, the entire world celebrated the deal with North Korea. It was deemed to be a great breakthrough, it would bring an end to North Korea's nuclear program. You would have inspectors that would do the job. And of course, everybody applauded it. But it turned out to be a very, very bad deal. And you know where we are with North Korea.
 
I think the same thing would be true in the case of Iran, except that Iran is a great deal more dangerous than North Korea. It's a militant, Islamic power, built on regional corporate domination. In fact, bent on world domination, as it openly says so. They just chanted, "Death to America," a few days ago on the streets of Tehran, the same streets where there is rejoicing right now. Don't give the preeminent terrorist state of our time the access to a nuclear program that could help them make nuclear weapons. It's very bad for all of us.
 
CHUCK TODD: Well, you, in 2012, contemplated, there were reports that you contemplated asking your cabinet for permission to potentially strike Iran's nuclear facilities. Do you still plan on keeping that option open even if a deal is implemented by the United Nations and by the United States?
 
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: Chuck, I'm the only Israeli left standing who never talks about our military options. But I will say this, I prefer a diplomatic solution. You know why? Because for any military option, the country that will pay the biggest price is always Israel. So we want a diplomatic solution, but a good one. One that rolls back Iran's nuclear infrastructure and one that ties the final lifting of restrictions on Iran's nuclear program with a change of Iran's behavior.
 
Namely that they stop their aggression in the region, that they stop their worldwide terrorism, and that they stop calling for and working for the annihilation of Israel. These are the requirements that there's still time to put in place. And I'll use what means I have, including this program, to try to persuade people to go for this deal, which is the only one that will give us peace and security.
 
CHUCK TODD:
Would you advise Saudi Arabia and Egypt right now to pursue their own nuclear program, given the way this deal looks in your eyes?
 
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: No, I wouldn't advise them to do that, Chuck. But I think that despite the spoken words, there's enormous concerns throughout the Sunni states in the region. And I think one of the unfortunate, even tragic results of this deal, if it goes through, is that it would spark an arms race among the Sunni race, a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. And the Middle East crisscrossed with nuclear tripwires is a nightmare for the world. I think this deal is a dream deal for Iran and it's a nightmare deal for the world.
 
CHUCK TODD: There have been plenty reports about Israel's nuclear deterrent strategy. Do you believe that in an ideal situation, no Middle Eastern country would have nuclear weapons?
 
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: In an ideal situation, you wouldn't have countries seeking to annihilate the state of Israel and openly saying that. By the way, an Iranian general said that four days ago, on the eve of the announcement of this framework in Lausanne, the commander of the besieged forces in Tehran says, "The destruction of Israel is non-negotiable."
 
So I think the real problem in the Middle East is not the democracy of Israel that has shown restraint and responsibility, but it's countries like Iran that pursue nuclear weapons with the explicit goal first of annihilating us, but also ultimately of conquering the Middle East and threatening you.
 
That's why they're developing ICBMs, intercontinental ballistic missiles that are meant for one purpose only, to carry nuclear payloads to a theater near you. They're not intended for us. They already have missiles that reach us. They're developing ICBMs to reach the United States. Don't give them these weapons. Don't give them nuclear ICBMs with which they can threaten you.
 
CHUCK TODD: It sounds like you want the U.S. Congress to do everything in its power to kill this deal. Is that what you'd like them to do?
 
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: I'd like the United States and the other members of the P5+1 to get a better deal. There's still time. It's time you can ratchet up the sanctions. Look, biting sanctions were imposed for the first time only in 2012. That got Iran within 18 months to the table.
 
Once you got to the table, instead of ratcheting up the sanctions and the pressures, in fact, you reduce the pressure. And Iran's told, "No need to make any concessions at all. You have time to insist on a better deal and to ratchet up the pressure." That's the preferable route for all of us.
—April 5 2015 on NBC’s “Meet the Press”
 
Interview on ABC’s “This Week”
 
MARTHA RADDATZ, HOST: Prime Minister, why do you think President Obama and John Kerry would want an agreement that, as you say, threatens the survival of Israel and paves the path to a bomb?

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm -- it's more they think it's a good deal, but we differ. I think this is a -- a bad deal. It leaves Iran with a vast nuclear infrastructure. It lifts the sanctions on them fairly quickly and enables them to get billions of dollars into their coffers. They're not going to use it for schools or hospitals or roads, Martha, they're going to use it to pump up their terror machine worldwide and their military machine that is busy conquering the Middle East now.

And third, it's a temporary deal. That is, whatever restrictions are placed on Iran's nuclear program, they're removed after a few years and Iran will be free to have a vast arsenal with which to, uh, ultimately produce many nuclear bombs.

I think for the preeminent terrorist state of our time to have a free path, an easy pass to nuclear weapons endangers Israel, endangers the region, endangers the world, it endangers everyone listening to me right now.

RADDATZ: Do you think President Obama is just too trusting?

NETANYAHU: Look, I think we have a legitimate difference of view. And I think that it's not only my own concerns. I think that the real concerns in the region, whatever is stated publicly as such, that if Iran is given this free path to the tomb, a deal that doesn't block Iran's path to nuclear weapons, but actually paves it, what will happen is that this will spark a nuclear arms race among the Sunni countries in the Middle East. And that would have -- a nuclear-armed Middle East, I think that's a global danger. I think it's very, very bad.

RADDATZ: What will you do to try to stop this? What will you do for the next three months?

NETANYAHU: Well, first of all, I think there is still time to reach a good deal, a better deal. And I think what is required is to hold firm, to increase the pressures until a better deal is achieved, one that significantly rolls back Iran's nuclear infrastructure and one that doesn't lift the restrictions on Iran -- on Iran's nuclear program until they stop their aggression in the region, until they stop their terrorism worldwide.

RADDATZ: The United States says it will be phased in. That hasn't even really been decided.

NETANYAHU: Well, it's never even been on the table, nor have ICBMs, intercontinental ballistic missiles, that they can use to propel their nuclear weapons to any part of the world, including the United States.

Nothing has been asked of Iran, to change its aggressive and terrorist policies, nothing. And I think it's important to change the deal, to toughen up the deal, to get a better deal, because we all prefer to find a solution, but it has to be the right one.

RADDATZ: How can you get a deal that Iran would accept? The U.S. and others who have been dealing for years, and you've got other players involved in this now. How can you get a deal that they would accept?

NETANYAHU: Martha, I think that what they don't accept today, they can accept tomorrow. If I told you two years ago that Syria's Bashar al-Assad would accept a deal that takes out all the chemicals for Syria, that takes out all the chemical weapons from Syria, just takes it out, not leave inspectors or beefed up inspectors to inspect what is there but actually take out the whole stuff, you would have said that's unrealistic. And you know what...

RADDATZ: Would you consider unilateral air strikes?

NETANYAHU: Well, first, let me say that we prefer a peaceful solution. How did you get a peaceful solution in Syria? You ratcheted up the pressure. And when Syria saw that that -- those pressures were raining down on them, they agreed to what was not agreed before. The same could be true with Iran.

RADDATZ: So would you threaten unilateral air strikes to Iran?

NETANYAHU: I never talk about our military option or anyone else's. The United States says that it has a military option on the table. But equally -- and I think no less effective -- have been the crippling sanctions that have only been applied swine 2012, crippling financial and economic sanctions, especially on the oil sector. And with the drop in oil, those sanctions have become even more effective. That's what got Iran to the table in the first place. And then, once they're at the table, why let up on those sanctions? In fact, that's the time to increase the pressure and to get tomorrow what you can't get today.
—April 5 2015 on ABC's "This Week"

Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz 
 
“The smiles in Lausanne are detached from wretched reality in which Iran refuses to make any concessions on the nuclear issue and continues to threaten Israel and all other countries in the Middle East.” 
 
“At a time when the representatives of the world powers were shaking hands with the Iranians in Lausanne, Iran continues its campaign of occupation and terror in Yemen and throughout the Middle East. We will continue in our efforts to explain and convince the world in the hopes of preventing a bad deal, or at least introducing changes and improvements.” 
—April 2, 2015 in a statement 
 
“It [the military option] was on the table. It’s still on the table. It’s going to remain on the table,” Steinitz told reporters. “Israel should be able to defend itself, by itself, against any threat. And it’s our right and duty to decide how to defend ourselves, especially if our national security and even very existence is under threat.”
 
“It might become a much better deal and a more comprehensive and trusted deal than it is today. This is a bad deal.”
—April 6, 2015 according to the press
 
Chief Spokesperson for the Prime Minister Mark Regev
 

"This framework (agreement) is a step in a very, very dangerous direction." 
 
"Not only does it leave Iran with an expensive nuclear infrastructure but it fails to shut down even a single Iranian nuclear installation. It leaves Iran with thousands of centrifuges to continue to enrich uranium." 
 
"It allows Iran to conduct research and development to build new and better centrifuges." 
—April 3, 2015, according to the press 
 
Economics Minister Naftali Bennett 
 
“The world’s most radical Islamic terror regime received today an official kosher stamp for its illicit nuclear program. This is a regime that cannot be trusted, and which has already violated consecutive U.N. resolutions. Today’s deal paves the way for Iran to eventually obtain a nuclear weapon, to further destabilize the Middle East and to continue spreading terror across the globe.” 
—April 2, 2015 in a statement
 

Member of the Knesset Yair Lapid

“There is no opposition and coalition when it comes to the Iranian nuclear issue.”

“We all share the concern that the Iranians will bypass [the agreement], and Israel must protect its security interests. The ayatollah regime in Iran has been engaged in years of fraud and deception and promotes its nuclear program under the nose of the West."
 
"There is no basis for determining that today Iran was prevented from achieving nuclear weapons. Israel should cooperate with the United States and the international community to ensure that there is no case of deception which endangers Israel's security and the security of the world."
—April 3, 2015, according to the press 
 

Members of the Knesset Yitzhak Herzog and Tzipi Livni

"We are entering a new phase in dealing with the Iranian nuclear threat...We must remember that the main part is yet to come and we must ensure that the final agreement will set the Iranian nuclear program back so as to prevent them from acquiring nuclear weapons and to ensure Israel's security interests."
—April 3, 2015, according to the press


Member of the Knesset Yariv Levin (Likud), head of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee
 
"The agreement, which is based on deception, will turn Iran into a nuclear threshold state and give an unprecedented boost to Iran's efforts to take control of large parts of the Middle East."
"Given the blindness of Western leaders, Israel will continue to fight in a determined manner to halt the Iranian nuclear program and fight the radical Islamic terrorism sponsored by it."
—April 3, 2015, according to the press