WarSclerotic

The European Union has condemned recent remarks by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in which he called Israel “a cancerous tumor.”

In an official statement released on Sunday, the EU said Rouhani’s “remarks bringing into question Israel’s legitimacy are totally unacceptable. They are also incompatible with the need to address international disputes through dialogue and international law.

“The European Union reiterates its fundamental commitment to the security of Israel, including with regard to current and emerging threats in the region.”

In a speech to the annual International Islamic Unity Conference in Tehran earlier that day, Rouhani called Israel “a cancerous tumor created in the Middle East by the West after World War II in order to serve its own interests.”

Rouhani also called on the leaders of Muslim countries to stand with Iran as it contends with reimposed U.S. economic sanctions following the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal.

“Surrender to the West, led by America, is a betrayal of our religion and future generations in the region,” Rouhani said. “We have a choice: Roll out the red carpet for criminals, or stand against the injustice and remain loyal to our prophet, the Quran and Islam.”

Rouhani also attacked U.S. Persian Gulf ally Saudi Arabia, which Iran is engaged in fighting in Yemen, saying, “We are prepared to protect our interests from the Saudis, and we will not ask $450 million to do it.”

In response to Rouhani’s comments, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “Israel knows very well how to protect itself from the murderous regime in Iran.

“Rouhani’s slander, which calls for the destruction of Israel, proves yet again why the nations of the world need to join in the sanctions against the Iranian terrorist regime which threatens them.”

Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan warned on Sunday that if the Lebanese government allows the terrorist group Hezbollah to launch missiles at Israeli civilians, Israel will have no choice but to obliterate Hezbollah’s terror network and any infrastructure that serves it, including Lebanese civilian infrastructure.

“If we are attacked, we will attack every facility that serves Hezbollah. We will not wait for Hezbollah and Iran to achieve their sinister goals,” Erdan said at a pro-Israel conference in Frankfurt.

Erdan said Iran was continuing its efforts to carry out terrorist attacks on European soil,despite the arrests of a number of Iranian would-be attackers in recent months in several European countries.

Erdan urged Germany, one of the six world powers that entered into the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran over Israel’s objections, to alter its policy toward Iran and take the reins in leading the European Union to make the “moral” choice, presumably to exit the nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions on Iran.

“Germany needs to take a stronger, more resolute stand against the most anti-Semitic regime in the world,” Erdan said.

“Only yesterday, the ‘moderate’ Iranian president called Israel a ‘cancerous tumor.’ History has taught us that when fanatic leaders with aspirations of world domination make anti-Semitic threats we need to take them seriously, particularly when they are linked to a global terror network, develop a ballistic missile program and murder citizens.

“The Iranian people want the Iranian regime to change its behavior. The Syrian people want to stop being killed by the Iranians. The Gulf states want to effect a change in the Iranian regime’s behavior. It is unthinkable that amid all that, Germany’s attitude remains business as usual with Iran. Germany needs to join the U.S. and impose sanctions.”

Erdan also called on Germany and other European Union nations to stop funding organizations that support the anti-Israel boycott movement.

“EU states generally don’t support boycotts against Israel, but in practice, in the guise of human rights work, they give millions of euros every year to advance boycotts against Israel, and that must stop,” he said.

“Just as the EU wouldn’t fund organizations that promote racism, it should not fund organizations that promote anti-Israel boycotts. Germany can take the lead in stemming this kind of funding.”

The conference, the Deutscher Israelkongress, was also attended by Iraqi beauty queen Sarah Idan, who has been widely criticized in the Arab world for her pro-Israel views and who was forced to flee Iraq because she and her family faced death threats after she had posed for a photo with Israeli Miss Universe contestant Adar Gandelsman during a pageant in 2017.

Idan became a social activist and has even visited Israel.

Israel is currently in the late stages of forging diplomatic relations with the Persian Gulf state of Bahrain, media reports revealed Sunday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted at the process on Sunday in a surprise announcement he made during his historic meeting with the visiting president of Muslim-majority Chad, Idriss Déby.

“Very soon, we will be holding visits in other Muslim countries,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu and his ministers have visited a number of Persian Gulf states in recent weeks. Although he did not specify his next planned Arab destination, local media said Israel was already talking to Bahrain about establishing official ties, making it a likely port of call.

Meanwhile, Israeli Economy Minister Eli Cohen said Monday that he had been invited to attend a conference next year in Bahrain.

Cohen told Army Radio the invitation was to a conference in the first quarter of 2019 “in the realm of technology and high-tech, in which the State of Israel is certainly a leader.” He did not say whether he planned to attend.

Asked to elaborate, an Israeli official familiar with Cohen’s affairs said the event to which he had been invited was the Startup Nations Ministerial conference on April 15, a forum for public policymakers to discuss how to promote entrepreneurs.

The official, who requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter, said the invitation originated with the Manama government and was relayed to Israel by Switzerland.

For some time now, Bahrain has taken a relatively friendly stance toward Israel. Last month, Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, a member of the royal family and also of the island country’s Sunni minority, came out in support of Israel and strongly criticized Iran.

In May, the sheikh backed Israel’s right to self-defense and said that “as long as Iran has breached the status quo in the region and invaded countries with its forces and missiles, any state in the region, including Israel, is entitled to defend itself by destroying sources of danger.”

Bahrain shares Israel’s animosity toward Iran, and is an active member of the Sunni coalition against Iran in the Arab world. Its forces are currently fighting alongside the Saudis in the civil war in Yemen.

On Saturday, Bahrainis voted in a parliamentary election from which opposition groups were barred, amid a crackdown on dissent. Activists had called for a boycott of the vote, describing it as a “farce.” The government said the election is “democratic” and put voter turnout at 67%.

The Sunni ruling Al Khalifa family has kept a lid on dissent since the Shiite opposition staged a failed uprising in 2011. Saudi Arabia sent in troops to help crush that unrest in a mark of concern that any power-sharing concession by Bahrain could inspire Saudi Arabia’s own Shiite minority to rebel.

Three IDF soldiers were injured in varying degrees Monday when they were hit by a Palestinian vehicle near the large Gush Etzion intersection in Judea.

The event has been characterized as a terrorist ramming attack.

Israeli forces fired at the Palestinian driver and killed him.

The soldiers were patrolling a main artery south of the Gush Etzion junction when a private vehicle suddenly swerved and hit them. Two of the soldiers sustained light injuries and a third was hospitalized in moderate condition.

Military medics and emergency medical personnel quickly arrived at the scene and administered first aid.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit issued a statement immediately following the attack, saying that “a terrorist rammed three soldiers with his vehicle while they were engaged in engineering operations along the axis between Beit Ummar and Al-Arroub [Palestinian refugee camp]. One soldier was moderately hurt and two others sustained light injuries. One of the patrol soldiers fired and neutralized the terrorist. The soldiers have been evacuated to hospitals for continued medical care.”

The attacker, from the Dheisheh refugee camp south of Bethlehem, was pronounced dead at the scene after being examined by Red Crescent personnel.

The Route 60 highway, where the incident occurred, is frequented by both Jews and Palestinians.

Two weeks ago, four Israeli police officers were lightly hurt in a stabbing attack at the Armon Hanatziv police station in Jerusalem. A Palestinian attacker entered the station from a back door and stabbed a border policeman before being subdued.

During the altercation with the terrorist, a number of additional officers were hurt, one of them apparently from friendly fire.

Russia would be ready to host a meeting between Palestinians and Israel and to act as a mediator, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.

Lavrov was speaking to reporters during a two-day trip to Rome.

Lavrov said that the resolution of the conflict would also help strengthen the stability of the entire Middle East: “Stability in the Middle East, including Libya, Syria, Iraq and other countries, also depends on the Palestinian problem.”

“The agreement between Israel and the Palestinians must be based on the U.N. proposal and the initiative of the Arab League,” Lavrov said, adding that “in the past, they tried to invent new game rules that were not based on international law. This only spoiled the chances of solving the complex situation.”