Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shakes hands with President Shimon Peres at a reception following the swearing-in ceremony of the new Israeli parliament in Jerusalem yesterday.
AFP/Jerusalem
Israeli leaders warned yesterday of threats posed by Iran, Hezbollah and their mutual ally Syria as the new Israeli parliament opened following last month’s general election.
President Shimon Peres said the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran was growing under the “terrifying dictatorship” ruling the Islamic Republic.
“The Iranian danger has grown,” Peres said in a speech to the Knesset, or parliament. “It threatens our existence, the independence of the Arab states, the peace of the whole world.”
“At its head stands a group of ayatollahs in their religious robes, a terrifying dictatorship, staining Persian history and a nightmare for its people,” he told MPs.
Much of the international community fears Iran’s nuclear programme includes efforts to develop nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran has repeatedly denied.
Israel believes Iran must be prevented from reaching military nuclear capabilities at any cost and refuses to rule out military intervention to that end.
Peres said he was confident of US President Barack Obama’s intent to thwart Iran’s nuclear arms ambitions.
“The US can put an end to the Iranian threat and I believe that the president of the US is determined to do it,” he said.
He called on the UN and the Arab League to act urgently to end the turmoil in Syria.
“Iran is a danger and Syria is a tragedy. Its president butchers his people. In my opinion the UN should task the Arab League with the immediate formation of a transitional government in Syria to save it from self-destruction. Assad, who has murdered tens of thousands has also murdered his future,” he said.
Syria has blamed Israel for an air raid last Wednesday at a military complex near Damascus, which targeted surface-to-air missiles and an adjacent military complex believed to house chemical agents, according to a US official.
Damascus has threatened to retaliate and Syria’s close ally Iran warned the attack would have “grave consequences” and that the “Zionist entity” would regret its aggression against Syria.
While Israel has not yet formally confirmed its responsibility, Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday dropped a heavy hint.
“It’s another proof that when we say something we mean it,” Barak told reporters at a security conference in Germany.
