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Where Iran Casts a Shadow, Human Rights Recede
(Politico-EU) Israeli President Isaac Herzog - The Iranian regime is, at this point, one of the greatest threats to the free world. The Ayatollahs' policy of "exporting the revolution" has meant exporting the same brutal oppression it applies against its own citizens. In arming violent proxy forces throughout the Middle East, Iran has spread extremism to every place it touches - from Gaza to Lebanon, from Yemen to Syria. And the same cruelty with which the regime in Tehran is now trying to crush protestors demanding dignity and basic freedoms, it is also inflicting on its neighbors. Where Iran casts a shadow, human rights recede. Iran's destructive behavior is now reaching into Europe itself. Iran has been supplying deadly unmanned aerial vehicles used to kill innocent civilians in Ukraine, exporting its chaos as far as the borders of Poland and Romania. This regime knows no bounds and has come all the way to Europe's door. One urgent strategic danger is the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, and here Europe and Israel share a fundamental strategic interest. A regime that executes citizens who are simply exercising their basic human rights, sows chaos among its neighbors, violates every agreement, and pursues a policy of aggression against my country must never be allowed to possess nuclear weapons. Against Iran's revanchism, the Middle East is realigning to produce a solid alliance determined to safeguard the peace and stability of our region. The Abraham Accords have articulated a new and bold vision of mutual respect and dialogue between Jews and Muslims. We extend a hand in peace to all our neighbors and call on all nations in our region, including our Palestinian neighbors, to join and harness this positive momentum. I will address the European Parliament on January 26 to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day. I am the son of a British Army officer who helped to liberate the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, and my father told me stories of the horrors he witnessed when he entered the gates of hell. Together, we will remember the 6 million Jewish men, women and children murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators in the worst crime in human history. And, together, we will pledge to stamp out the resurgence of vicious anti-Semitism.