Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that perusal of the previous day’s nuclear deal with Iran yields a picture that grows ever bleaker.
The agreement is “filled with absurdities,” Netanyahu said, scolding world leaders for caving in to Iran’s “charm offensive” and crediting Israel with leading the fight against an Iranian bo
He called on the Knesset to present a united front in the fight against the “bad in every respect” pact. “The agreement that was signed in Vienna is not the final word. We will continue to fight,” Netanyahu pledged.
Iran and the world powers signed an agreement Tuesday in Vienna that mandates the Islamic Republic scale back some of its nuclear capabilities in exchange for a rollback of economic sanctions.
“When we examine this agreement — which is bad in every aspect — when we read this agreement, the picture becomes more bleak and we discover it’s filled with absurdities,” Netanyahu said.
“For example, the agreement gives Iran 24 days’ [notice] before an inspection; it’s like giving a criminal organization that produces drugs a 24-hour warning before performing a search,” he said.
“In addition, the sanction snap-back mechanism is so complicated and serpentine that one needs a PhD to understand it. One clause creates a huge incentive to invest in Iran because it says that the reinstatement of sanctions will not apply to agreements that have [already taken place]. Another section includes the people that were removed from the sanctions list, one of them being Qassem Soleimani, head of Iran’s global terror arm. It is absurd, terror [meets] nuclear [power],” he said, referring to the commander of Iran’s elite Quds force.
According to Netanyahu, Western leaders were too easily beguiled by the Iranian regime, and if not for Israel’s efforts, Tehran would already possess a bomb.
“If not for the efforts made by Israel, Iran would have already had the ability to arm itself with nuclear bombs. We exposed the Iranian issue on the international stage. We led the implementation of biting sanctions that brought Iran to the negotiating table. We set before Iran a red line on the issue of uranium enrichment which it has not yet crossed,” he said.
“One who speaks truth about this agreement is the president of Iran, who said that Iran has achieved all its objectives,” Netanyahu said, referring to President Hassan Rouhani who said Tuesday following the deal that “all the four objectives have been achieved.”
“We are not committed to this agreement and will continue to oppose it. For existential [threats] there is no coalition or opposition. We need a united front to ensure our survival,” Netanyahu said.
Rocket alert sirens rang out early Thursday morning in towns near the Gaza Strip after a missile was fired from the Palestinian territory.
The IDF said one rocket fired from the coastal enclave struck an open area of southern Israel after Code Red alerts went off in the southern city of Ashkelon and in communities nearby.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. IDF soldiers were scouring the area for remains of the projectile and were investigating the incident.
It wasn’t immediately clear who was responsible for the rocket fire.
Earlier this week, rocket sirens sounded across northern Israel in what turned out to be a false alarm. Sunday’s incident was the latest in a string of false alarms in recent weeks in which sirens sounded in southern Israel and the Golan Heights.
The rocket was the latest to hit southern Israel. Earlier this month, an Islamic State-affiliated group fired three rockets into southern Israel from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, causing no injuries or damage.
A rocket was launched from Gaza towards Israel early Thursday morning causing rocket alert sirens to sound near Ashkelon in the Lakhish Regional Council and in communities in the Gaza envelope.
The army was searching for the rocket but said it landed in an open area close to Ashkelon.
The army was searching for the rocket but said it landed in an open area close to Ashkelon.
Last month, Gazan terrorists fired a single rocket at southern Israel, that prompted a response by the Israel Air Force that targeted a rocket launcher in the northern part of the coastal territory.
"Hamas is the address and it bears responsibility," the IDF said at the time.
A group that sympathizes with al-Qaida, who have defied Hamas, have been blamed for strikes on Israel over the past months, none of which caused injuries or damage.
"Hamas is the address and it bears responsibility," the IDF said at the time.
A group that sympathizes with al-Qaida, who have defied Hamas, have been blamed for strikes on Israel over the past months, none of which caused injuries or damage.
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