WarSclerotic

‘We stand together as one family,’ says Peres in condolence message after Boston bombings | The Times of Israel.

Netanyahu says Israel and US are ‘partners in freedom,’ also warns of a nuclear Iran, tells foreign diplomats he backs ‘two states for two peoples’

An unidentified Boston Marathon runner is comforted as she cries in the aftermath of two blasts that exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon in Boston, Monday, April 15, 2013 (photo credit: AP/Elise Amendola)

President Shimon Peres on Tuesday sent his condolences to those hurt in the Boston bombings, which killed three and injured over 140 people Monday, and warned foreign diplomats about the ongoing danger posed by terrorism.

Speaking at his residence to the Foreign Diplomatic Corps toward the end of Israel’s 65th Independence Day, Peres expressed the country’s “solidarity with the bereaved families in Boston today. Three people lost their lives, 140 were wounded and I want to send, on behalf of all of us, our condolences to all the families and wish a speedy recovery to all the injured.”

Two explosions rocked Boston on Monday during the annual marathon race in the city center. Officials said no one had claimed responsibility for the bombings, which left the streets spattered with blood and glass, but it was being treated as a terrorist attack.

“When it comes to events like this, all of us are one family. We feel a part of the people who paid such a high price. God bless them,” the president said. While conventional wars between countries used to be the main danger, things have changed, Peres stated. “Today the real problem is terror, and terror is not an extension of policy: Their policy is terror, their policy is to threaten. Terrorists divide people, they kill innocent people.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in his address to the diplomats, also focused on the attack. ”Yesterday, a day of enjoyment in Boston was turned into a day of terror. We send our condolences to President Obama, the American people and the bereaved families,” he said.

Netanyahu spoke about the bond between the countries, saying that every day “Israel stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the American people. We are partners in freedom and in seeking a better future for all humanity.”

Turning to the battle to thwart terror-sponsor Iran from attaining nuclear weapons, Netanyahu highlighted the dangers of rogue regimes with nuclear weapons. Those dangers were “recently seen,” he said, in a reference to the ongoing crisis in the Korean Peninsula.

“We have also seen that heavy sanctions are not always effective against a sufficiently determined regime. Therefore, we have an obligation to ensure that this will not happen again. If Iran achieves nuclear weapons, this will change the world,” Netanyahu stated, emphasizing that “all governments must do everything possible in order to ensure that this danger is not realized.”

Netanyahu also shared his vision for peace with the foreign diplomats, saying he was committed to “a peace that will be based on the principle of two states for two peoples, a Jewish state alongside a demilitarized Palestinian state.”

Israel’s security was crucial and the top priority in any future understandings or treaty with the Palestinians, the prime minister made clear. ”The state of Israel must be able to defend itself by itself; its security will be a main component of any future peace agreement.”

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