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The weak crumble, are slaughtered and are erased from
history while the strong, for good or for ill, survive. The strong are
respected, and alliances are made with the strong, and in the end peace is made
with the strong.
1.
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PM Netanyahu:
Shimon aspired toward peace but he knew that true peace
can be achieved only if our hands strongly grasp defensive weaponry. In the
Middle East, and in many parts of the world, there is a simple truth: There is
no place for the weak.pic.twitter.com/Quh681u47E
At nuclear facility, Netanyahu lobs
stark warning at Iran
'Whoever threatens us with destruction
puts himself in similar danger,' PM says at ceremony renaming Dimona reactor
after Shimon Peres
By Alexander Fulbright 29 August 2018, 8:36 pm
In a pointed warning to Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said
Wednesday that any country that threatens to destroy Israel risks meeting a
similar fate, while vowing to continue taking action against the Islamic
Republic’s military presence in Syria.
Netanyahu spoke during a ceremony at the nuclear research facility in
Dimona, which was renamed after the late Israeli statesman Shimon Peres, who
died in September 2016.
“Shimon aspired toward peace but he knew that true peace can be achieved
only if our hands strongly grasp defensive weaponry,” Netanyahu said at the
top-secret site.
Israel has never acknowledged possessing nuclear weapons, instead
maintaining a policy of “strategic ambiguity.” Foreign reports have put the
size of Israel’s nuclear arsenal in the dozens to hundreds of weapons.
Peres, who later became known for his efforts to reach peace with the
Palestinians and Arab countries, played a leading role in the early development
of Israel’s military industry and the nuclear facility in Dimona, which was
initially portrayed to the world as a textile factory.
Shimon Peres and David Ben-Gurion
visit Israel’s nuclear reactor in Dimona (Defense Ministry Archives)
In light of Peres’s longtime promotion of an accommodation
with the Palestinians and the Arab world, Netanyahu said peace must be reached
from a position of strength.
“In the Middle East, and in many parts of the world, there
is a simple truth: There is no place for the weak. The weak crumble, are
slaughtered and are erased from history while the strong, for good or for ill,
survive,” he said.
“The strong are respected, and alliances are made with the
strong, and in the end peace is made with the strong.”
Netanyahu credited this strength for the “normalization”
of Israel’s relations with “leading countries in the Arab world,” apparently
referring to growing unofficial ties with nations such as Saudi Arabia.
Though saying he held out hope Israel will be able to
achieve peace with its neighbors, Netanyahu noted the Jewish state continues to
face threats from near and far.
“But our enemies know very well what Israel is capable of
doing. They are familiar with our policy. Whoever tries to hurt us – we hurt
them,” he said.
“I am not spouting slogans. I am describing a persistent,
clear and determined policy… backed by appropriate deployment, equipment,
preparedness and – in the hour of need – appropriate orders,” Netanyahu added.
This photo taken on September 8,
2002, shows a partial view of the Dimona nuclear power plant in the southern
Israeli Negev desert. (AFP/Thomas Coex)
Turning to Iran, the prime minister reiterated Israel’s
opposition to any Iranian military presence in Syria, likening Israeli efforts
to do so to his campaign for the cancellation of the 2015 international
agreement meant to limit Tehran’s nuclear program.
Noting the effect of renewed sanctions on Iran’s economy
following US President Donald Trump’s decision to quit the accord in May,
Netanyahu said Israel would continue to work through diplomatic channels “to
apply pressure on the dangerous, extremist regime” in Iran.
He said the Israeli military will continue to take action
against Iran’s military entrenchment in Syria and issued an emphatic warning
against those who call for Israel’s annihilation, such as the Islamic Republic.
“Whoever threatens us with destruction puts himself in
similar danger, and in any case will not achieve his goal,” Netanyahu said.
Hours later, Iranian Foreign Minister slammed Netanyahu as
a “warmonger” for threatening Iran with “atomic annihilation.”
“Iran, a country without nuclear weapons, is threatened with
atomic annihilation by a warmonger standing next to an actual nuclear weapons
factory. Beyond shameless in the gall,” Zarif tweeted.
Iran's
FM Fires Back at Netanyahu: You're 'A Warmonger Standing Next to a Nuke Plant'
'Iran,
a country without nuclear weapons, is threatened with atomic annihilation by a
warmonger standing next to an actual nuclear weapons factory'
Haaretz , Aug 29, 2018 11:10 PM
Backstory:
'You
Have to Be Strong to Get Respect': What the U.S. Ambassador to Israel Really
Thinks of the Middle East
David
Friedman's remarks are strikingly similar to what Benjamin Netanyahu said
Wednesday. 'In the Middle East there's a simple truth: There's no place for the
weak,' the PM said
by Noa Landau
Haaretz,
Aug 30, 2018 3:26 PM
U.S.
Ambassador to Israel David Friedman revealed Tuesday his view on the Middle
East, and in particular, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, during a private conversation with members of the
American Jewish Congress.
"The
Middle East is not the U.S. There’s a different way of thinking… It’s really
different here, it’s a very different world, and you have to be strong here,
there is no other way to gain respect in this part of the world… you can’t talk
your way, you just have to be strong… Maybe it would be better if the world
weren’t like that but that’s how it is," Friedman said.
>> Trump: Israel will 'pay a higher price' for Jerusalem
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this matter'
Friedman's
remarks bore a striking similarity to what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday during a
ceremony renaming the nuclear reactor in Dimona to the Shimon Peres Negev
Nuclear Research Center. “Shimon aspired toward peace but he knew that true
peace can be achieved only if our hands strongly grasp defensive
weaponry," Netanyahu said at the beginning of the ceremony. He then turned
to addressing the unrest across the Middle East region.
"In
the Middle East, and in many parts of the world, there's a simple truth:
There's no place for the weak. The weak collapse, get butchered, are erased
from history. And the strong, for better or worse, are the ones who
survive," he said.
"The
strong," he said, "are the ones who are respected, the strong are the
ones with whom alliances are struck, and eventually the strong are the ones
with whom you make peace." Netanyahu added this strength was behind the
“normalization” of Israel’s relations with “leading countries in the Arab
world.”
In
Tuesday's telephone briefing with American Jewish Congress members, Friedman
said "there is no capacity to have peace with the Palestinians unless
there's peace with all the Palestinians, including the million and a half in
Gaza."
Friedman
went on to clarify that this "means there should be ideally one government
[for the Palestinians]… If you go around the PA and somehow try to restructure
Gaza without them, you're giving a tremendous prize to Hamas… with all the
failings of the PA if the choice is Hamas we pick the PA."
The
U.S. ambassador reiterated, as he has publicly on several occasions in the
past, that Trump's administration won't make Israel suffer negative
consequences over the transfer of the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to
Jerusalem. Friedman also clarified that the only price U.S. President Donald
Trump is asking the two sides to pay is to demonstrate willingness to advance
in peace talks.
Friedman
also confirmed a recent statement by U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton
that the administration did not have an exact deadline for the unveiling of its
peace plan, and that it will not be presented at the upcoming UN General
Assembly session.
Speaking
about internal Israeli affairs, Friedman addressed the controversy that was
sparked over Israel's passage of the contentious nation-state law. He was heard giving
explanations on behalf of Israel to the American Jewish Congress regarding the
decision to pass the legislation.
"Israel
is a democracy and it has a right to pass laws and govern its people,"
Friedman said and objected to the idea that the U.S. would interfere with the
Israeli government's decision-making.
"There's
a basic law of human dignity and nothing in the nation-state law overwrites
that," he added.
Friedman
allowed that "many in the Israeli leadership regretted that it had that
effect on the Druze who serve in the military and on a personal level are
amazing people" and that "there are things that could have been done
better."
Nonetheless,
the ambassador stated that he had no doubt that "at some point down the
road the court will have to consider the interplay between the nation-state law
and the basic law of human dignity… I'm pretty confident that the basic law of
human dignity is going to win out."
Knesset
rejects international nuclear oversight
Asked by Zahalka if
Israel had a nuclear plant in Dimona, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said
Israel made sure there would be no nuclear weapons in Iraq and Syria.
By Gil Hoffman
July 4, 2018 13:49
Dear
Reader,
As you can imagine, more people are reading The Jerusalem Post than ever before. Nevertheless, traditional business models are no longer sustainable and high-quality publications, like ours, are being forced to look for new ways to keep going. Unlike many other news organizations, we have not put up a paywall. We want to keep our journalism open and accessible and be able to keep providing you with news and analyses from the frontlines of Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World.
As you can imagine, more people are reading The Jerusalem Post than ever before. Nevertheless, traditional business models are no longer sustainable and high-quality publications, like ours, are being forced to look for new ways to keep going. Unlike many other news organizations, we have not put up a paywall. We want to keep our journalism open and accessible and be able to keep providing you with news and analyses from the frontlines of Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World.
The
Knesset voted 73 to 8 Wednesday afternoon to reject MK Jamal Zahalka’s proposal
for international monitoring over Israel’s alleged nuclear facility in Dimona.
Only MKs from Zahalka’s Joint List faction voted for the bill, which would have compelled Israel to sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons within a month and then submit the Dimona facility to the oversight of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Only MKs from Zahalka’s Joint List faction voted for the bill, which would have compelled Israel to sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons within a month and then submit the Dimona facility to the oversight of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Zahalka warned in the Knesset debate that the facility endangered the region, its people, and property, especially if there would be an earthquake. He noted that there was a small earthquake in Tiberias overnight and that a small earthquake near a nuclear facility in Japan six years ago caused significant damage.
The bill was co-sponsored by Joint List MKs Haneen Zoabi and Juma Azbarga. Zahalka warned that the Dimoana facility encouraged neighboring countries to build similar facilities.
“As long as Israel has nuclear weapons, other countries in the region will try to acquire them as well, and they will get them sooner or later,” Zahalka said. “The only way to prevent that from happening is to denuclearize the entire Middle East from weapons of mass destruction, including Israel.”
Asked by Zahalka if Israel had a nuclear plant in Dimona, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said Israel made sure there would be no nuclear weapons in Iraq and Syria and would ensure Iran would not get a nuclear capability. Steinitz said that if Iran stops being militant, there will be Middle East peace but if Israel stops fighting for its existence, it will be destroyed.
The minister added that the IAEA had nothing to do with earthquakes. Zahalka rebutted him that if there would be an earthquake, there could be damage to the reactor, and then the IAEA would have to get involved to deal with the repercussions.
Turning to the MKs who voted against the bill, Zahalka said: “You are responsible for the disaster that could come because the reactor is unsupervised.”
Steinitz called the bill “a joke,” because Zahalka focuses on safety from earthquakes while the IAEA “didn’t prevent Fukushima,” referencing the 2011 disaster at a nuclear plant in Japan.
The minister stressed a difference between a “research reactor” and a reactor used as a power plant. He further explained the plant was upgraded several times over since the 90s and said Zahalka was wrong to call it old and outdated. He stressed it would also be safe even in the event of an earthquake.
Israel is widely believed to be the Middle East’s only nuclear power, though it has never confirmed or denied that it has a nuclear arsenal. The country has refused to sign on to international nonproliferation treaties and arrested Mordechai Vanunu in 1986 for leaking information about a facility in Dimona.
Vanunu was jailed as a traitor in 1986 after discussing his work as a technician at the Dimona nuclear reactor facility with Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper, an interview that led experts to conclude that the facility had produced fissile material for as many as 200 atomic warheads.
Lahav Harkov, Avraham Gold and Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.
Netanyahu: The Dimona nuclear facility
will be named after Peres
"Only
when I became prime minister and entered the nuclear facility did I understand
its importance for Israeli security, which Shimon Peres established."
By ARIEL WHITMAN
October 28, 2016 10:48
Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Former Presudent Shimon Peres's grave. (photo
credit: HAIM ZACH/GPO)
Israel
marked 30 days since the death of former President Shimon Peres with a
traditional Jewish 30 day memorial ceremony and tombstone unveiling on Friday.
Friends and family gathered at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem and speakers included Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin, as well as Peres' grandchildren.
Friends and family gathered at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem and speakers included Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin, as well as Peres' grandchildren.
Rivlin spoke of Peres' contributions to the world stating, "In the days following your passing, more and more stories have come out about your great contribution to Israel and even the world."
"Above all your spirit is what made you great," Rivlin added.
Among Peres' contributions was Israel's nuclear facility.
As director-general of the Defense Ministry in the mid 1950s, Peres was instrumental in building a close relationship with France, which agreed to sell a nuclear reactor to Israel. France also provided the technical knowledge and equipment needed to turn the young Jewish state into the world’s sixth nuclear power. Peres played another pivotal role in securing other key components needed for the program, all under the nose of the Americans.
Netanyahu announced his plan to name the Dimona nuclear facility after the late president stating,"In the years in which I was an officer in the IDF, we trained and did a navigation near Dimona and were told not to go there."
"Only when I became prime minister and entered the nuclear facility did I understand its importance for Israeli security, which Shimon Peres established."
"I have given a directive to change the name of the nuclear facility in Dimona to the 'Shimon Peres nuclear center,'" stated Netanyahu.
Netanyahu also read from a letter that his father had sent to Shimon Peres two days after the Entebbe mission in which Yoni Netanyahu was killed.
The letter spoke of his appreciation and admiration for Peres, who was Israel's defense minister at the time.
"We missed an opportunity, each of us was fortified in his political position and only in the last years did our connection really blossom and strengthen," Netanyahu stated.
Mika Almog, granddaughter of Peres, spoke of the hope that Peres brought to Israel.
Almog stated, "The fear that your passing is an end to hope, to Israel as a nation looking for peace, a nation looking for leaders who are compassionate, not just looking to win elections or arguments."
"Shimon Peres's passing is a commandment not to lose hope."
Peres was buried between former prime ministers Yitzhak Shamir and Yitzhak Rabin.
Herb Keinon contributed to this article.
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