PM: World has no ‘moral right’ to give Israel a ‘red light’
PM: World has no ‘moral right’ to… JPost – Diplomacy & Politics.
Photo: Amos Ben Gershom / GPO
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said that the world has “no moral right” to put a “red light” in front of Israel if it refuses to set a “red line” for Iran.
Speaking ahead of a government to government meeting with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Metodiev Borisov in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said, “Those in the international community who refuse to put red lines in front of Iran, don’t have a moral right to put a red light in front of Israel. They must understand that there is a red line so they stop.”
“So far we can say with certainty that diplomacy and sanctions have not worked,” Netanyahu continued. “The sanctions have hurt the Iranian economy, but have not stopped the Iranian nuclear program. That is a fact.”
The comments came in response to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s comments that the United States will not set a deadline for Iran, and that negotiations remain “by far” the best option for stopping its nuclear program.
“We’re watching very carefully about what they do, because it’s always been more about their actions than their words,” Clinton said in an interview with Bloomberg Radio.
Netanyahu reiterated his position that diplomacy and sanctions have not yielded concrete results.
“The fact is that every day that passes, Iran gets closer and closer to nuclear bombs,” he said. “If Iran knows that there are no red lines, if Iran knows that there are no deadlines, what will it do? Exactly what it is doing. It is continuing without interference toward nuclear capability and nuclear bombs.”
“The world tells Israel ‘Wait, there is still time.’ And I say ‘Wait for what? Wait until when?'” the prime minister said.
In an apparent reference to the public spat between the United States and Israel, former IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi told the Calcalist conference on Tuesday that preserving strong ties with the United States is an Israeli security necessity.
“We must preserve ties with the United States. I believe this is a security necessity,” he said.
In the past three years, he noted, US taxpayers have contributed more to the Israeli defense budget than Israeli taxpayers.
Adding to the public spat between the allies, Likud MK Danny Danon reprimanded Clinton on Tuesday for her position, calling it a “slap in the face” to Israel and lecturing her on the significance of the issue on the anniversary of the September 11th terror attacks.
“Your words on not setting red lines for the Iranians are are a slap in the face to the State of Israel,” Danon wrote in an urgent dispatch to Clinton.
“This irresponsibility in handing the Iranian issue is dangerous to the Western world. On the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, there is a need to issue clear lines to the Iranians, who are threatening the entire Western world,” he continued.
Danon is in Washington promoting his new book, Israel: The Will to Prevail, which is highly critical of US President Barack Obama. The timing of the book’s release during the run-up to the US presidential election has raised eyebrows among some US politicians, who view it as interference in American domestic politics.
WarSclerotic 
September 11, 2012 at 3:29 PM
In reference to Danon’s book… American ‘domestic” politics IS world politics! US politicians who view it as interference are full of pooposhka! What do you think Hillary Clinton has been doing the last 10 days traveling to China, Russia etc…. Playing bridge??? The Israel / Iran issue is a world issue! And the powers that be in the world will be using it their own advantage. A positive outcome for Israel will only occur if it is a positive advantage to the world powers that be.
September 11, 2012 at 3:33 PM
I certainly hope Israel can go it alone successfully. The USA is only one election away from destruction. That’s way too close for comfort. The polls continue to slide back and forth between the candidates. This shows me that voters in the country are evenly split. It’s unimaginable so many folks support Obama. His vision for America is horrifying to say the least. We already see thousands of people a day qualifying for food stamps, welfare, section 8 housing, and any other damn ‘gibs me dat’ program you can imagine. (Not to mention all the ‘undocumented democrats’ flooding across the border.) With each new person nursing off the government’s teat, Obama gains another vote. Our Congress has failed to cut spending and, as a result, military cuts will kick in and decimate its ranks. Obama really doesn’t give a sh*t because that’s just one more step in his destruction of America. Too many people support this bastard, so they must share the same vision for our future. With a growing majority of these ‘socialists’, we are doomed if things don’t turn around. So tell me one thing Israel…are you willing to bet your future on this??
Sorry for the doom and gloom, but I wake up each day and am reminded of the insanity overtaking this country today. Maybe we will win and throw that festering pool of liberals out of Washington DC. But then again, there are all those crazy voters waiting to put them all back into office. One day they could be a clear majority. From that day forward, the America we all knew will cease to exist.
Have a nice day.
Thatisall.
September 11, 2012 at 3:52 PM
Since the turn of the 20th century, the only impact that the Right has had in politics is to clear the way for huge gains to be made by the Left. This IS the Left / Right paradigm in action! Both partys follow Marxist principles when it suits them… the Left more so. It is no wonder that Bill Clinton’s admitted mentor was Carrol Quigley – author of Tradgedy And Hope. By the way, Bill Clinton’s speech at the DNC wasn’t ment to be uplifting towards Obama… Clinton has great disdain for Obama. His speech was ment to secure desire for the “idealogy” of the continued destruction of the Republic of America! For the great “hope” to take place (as described in Quigley’s book) America as we know it must be destroyed! This is the same “hope” that Obama used as a veiled campaign mantra in his 2008 win…
September 11, 2012 at 4:56 PM
As if Israel has ever been bothered by any “red light” from “the world”…. The fact is that the US refuses to let Israel dictate its foreign policy.
September 11, 2012 at 7:15 PM
We have understand from the last hour news updating that no meeting will take place between Obama and Netanyahu in New York, and that because of the big ” to do ” things list of the american president.
Obama’s choice is a strategic one : in his own base of supporters, Israel is not the favourite one so he will act as such. We are talking here about the american liberal left wing with their deputies having a hard day to reinstall the word God in the democrat platform.
Yes, America is having problems right now, so does Israel.
But picture this : a war is suddenly exploding in the nearby region just in time for being an issue in the american elections. Believe me, Obama doesn’t need it. It can hurt the president badly if he will not give Israel assistance or it can expose him being weak for entering the war not from his will.
Right now, Obama’s team thinks that treating Israel in a bad manner, can help them in the reelection campaign and rallying their base voters, consolidating Obama’s position among his core men.
This is why, the probability for an israeli attack in the next two weeks has increased exponentially. Once, for military strategic considerations and secondly, for trying to deliver a fatal blow to the Obama campaign if they won’t help Israel in its efforts in Iran.