Transitional Prime Minister Yair Lapid held a briefing for foreign reporters today (Wednesday). Here are the Prime Minister’s words at the beginning of the briefing: “A week ago, Europe offered Iran what they called the “last offer” to return to the nuclear agreement. They announced that this offer was Take it or leave it. The Iranians, as always, did not say “no”, they said “Yes, but”, and passed their own draft with amendments and additional demands. Since then, a discussion has been held about it. Once again, the Iranians raise demands, and once again the negotiators are ready to make more and more concessions, again.”
“This is not happening for the first time. The Western countries set a red line, the Iranians ignore it, so they move the red line. If the Iranians didn’t take it, how come the world didn’t leave it? What is currently on the table is a bad agreement, which will give Iran has 100 billion dollars per year, this money will not build schools or hospitals. This is 100 billion dollars per year that will be used to destabilize the Middle East and spread terrorism around the world.”
This money will finance the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij forces that oppress the Iranian people, it will finance more attacks on American bases in the Middle East, it will be used to strengthen Hezbollah, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, it is money for the very same people who are trying to murder writers and thinkers in New York, and of course it will be used to strengthen the nuclear program.
Israel is not against any agreement. We are against this agreement, because it is a bad agreement. Because it cannot be accepted as it is written now. In our view, he does not meet the standards that President Biden has set: to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear state.
“This agreement endangers the independence of the IAEA. It creates political pressure to close the open cases without completing a professional investigation. This week Rafael Grossi, the chairman of the Atomic Energy Agency, was asked if he received satisfactory answers from the Iranians about the open investigations. This is what he answered: “No way. Currently, Iran has not provided the reliable and necessary technical answers to explain the origin of the presence of many uranium residues. Give us answers: if there was radioactive material there or if there was equipment there, then where is it now?”
“How can you sign an agreement with Iran when this is what the body responsible for overseeing the agreement says? How can you sign an agreement with them that gives them 100 billion dollars a year as a reward for having violated all their obligations? The blanket removal of sanctions on sectors such as banking, against financial entities which are declared today as aiding terrorism, means that the Iranians will have no problem laundering money. They will help other countries that have sanctions to bypass them. They will be able to create a direct route to the financing of terrorism.”
“We conduct an open dialogue with the American administration on all the issues in dispute. I appreciate their willingness to listen and work together. The United States was and remains our closest ally and President Biden is one of the best friends Israel has ever had. In the last few days I also spoke with the President of France and the Chancellor of Germany. With Britain we have a close dialogue almost on a daily basis. I told them that the negotiations had reached a point where they had to stop and say: “This is it.”
“At the same time, we made it clear to everyone: if the agreement is signed, it does not bind Israel. We will work to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear state. We are not preparing to live with the nuclear threat of an extreme and violent Islamic regime hanging over our heads. This will not happen, because we will not allow it to happen. happen,” Lapid told reporters.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz visited today (Wednesday) the intelligence and cyber studies campus currently being established in Be’er Sheva, and the complex where Kiryat Hamodiin is being built in the Negev together with Deputy Defense Minister Alon Shuster, Chief of Staff Lt. Col. Aviv Kochavi, Be’er Sheva Mayor Rubik Danilovitz ‘, Head of the Bnei Shimon Regional Council Nir Zamir, Head of the Council Omer Fini Badash, Chief Intelligence Officer Brigadier General Avi Kinan and members of the Directorate of Transition to the South in the Ministry of Defense.
During the visit, Defense Minister Gantz held a review on the progress of the works to transfer Amn to the Negev, as well as a review on the progress in the transportation issues and the connection to the regional fabric of the project.
At the end of the visit, Defense Minister Gantz said: “The defense establishment and the IDF continue the vision of strengthening the Negev – security-wise, technologically and morally. We see this vision here in the establishment of Kiryat Hamodiin. The State of Israel faces many challenges, and our high-quality intelligence is an important part of our security capabilities.” Here we will create the future generation of intelligence – and we will create the intelligence that will contribute to the security of the country in the future.
The Minister of Defense also referred to the emerging agreement with Iran and said: “Tomorrow I will leave for the US for a visit whose purpose is to convey a clear message regarding the negotiations between the powers and Iran on the nuclear agreement: an agreement that will not set Iran’s capabilities back years, and will leave it limited for many years to come – is an agreement that will harm global and regional security.
Iran’s nuclear rush must be significantly scaled back. The financing of its affiliates in the region should be disconnected from the Iranian Rial pipeline. We will discuss the issue with the Americans, and at the same time, Israel will continue to build its strength and capabilities – so that in any situation, it will know how to defend itself.”