Bibi: Iran is world’s greatest threat
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used the annual security conference in Munich to warn of Iran’s alleged attempts to dominate the Middle East, and Israel’s resolve to prevent it.
Iranian aggression “is in my judgment the greatest threat to our world,” Netanyahu said yesterday, urging leaders not to repeat the mistakes of Munich negotiators who did not stand up to Adolf Hitler in 1938 for fear of provoking a war. Rather than preventing war, the Israeli leader said, their inaction “made a wider war inevitable and far more costly.”
Netanyahu has used other highprofile platforms — including the U.S. Congress and United Nations General Assembly — to highlight the threat if Iran develops nuclear weapons. Yesterday, he focused equally on Iran’s conventional military entrenchment in Syria and the dangers it creates.
Israel feels increasingly abandoned as regional partners prioritize their often conflicting interests in Syria’s seven-year civil war, now that ISIS is largely defeated. That has left Israeli leaders with an unpalatable choice: tolerate a permanent Iranian military presence on their border, or risk going to war to prevent it.
Netanyahu said Israel has stayed on the sidelines of the Syrian war to this point, acting only to stop transfers of advanced weapons bound for Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy militia and Shiite political party in Lebanon. But he said that could change if Iran establishes a new reality on the ground in Syria.
If Syrian President Bashar Assad allows the Iranian military to entrench itself in his country, “then obviously he is challenging us to a different position than we’ve had,” Netanyahu said. Israel is “absolutely resolute in our determination to stop and roll back the aggression of Iran’s regime.”
Israeli officials believe the U.S. and Europe have yet to fully grasp the likelihood of military escalation. U.S. reluctance to enter the war in Syria has left it with insufficient force on the ground to dictate terms to Iran. Many Arab nations share Netanyahu’s concern over the Iranian threat, but won’t publicly support Israel for domestic political reasons.
Russia has more leverage to assure Israeli interests in Syria, and Netanyahu has talked with Russian President Vladimir Putin to ensure that Israeli jets can attack when necessary in Syria without clashing with Russian forces. But Moscow appears to be prioritizing ties with Iran, which is emerging as its strategic partner.