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The Primary Threats Facing Israel Today

- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Prime Minister's Office) Prime Minister Netanyahu discussed Israel's foreign policy at a special Knesset session on Dec. 23: The Nuclear Threat: "People are looking differently at Iran now, because of the sequence of recent events....That's why there's now a possibility that the international community will impose tight sanctions against Iran....We're making every effort to guarantee a positive outcome. But of course, the decision will ultimately be made by the members of the Security Council, where even a single member can tip the scales the wrong way." The Missile Threat: "The threat of missiles and rockets is intensifying....[The] government has adopted a very simple policy: we won't tolerate any trickle or drizzle of rockets that later turns into rainfall and then a full-fledged storm. Any metal cylinder loaded with TNT that's fired, even if it lands in an open field...will result in a response." The "Goldstone" Threat: "'Goldstone' has become code for a much broader phenomenon: the attempt to negate the legitimacy of our right to self-defense. It didn't just start now. The international campaign against Israel has gone on since the Durban Conference in 2000 and since the attempt in 2003 to condemn the security fence that has protected Israeli children - but is condemned just the same - in The Hague.... We all have a real problem here. Ehud Olmert speaks on campuses in the United States, and he's denounced as a war criminal. Defense Minister Ehud Barak - they want to arrest him in London. And there's a warrant out against Tzipi Livni, the Opposition leader....This is an all-out offensive, not just against one Israeli government or another." The Palestinian Issue: "I spelled out two principles that almost everyone in the Knesset can rally around. The first one is the demand that the State of Israel be recognized as a Jewish state. This includes relinquishing any claim to a right of return - code for the destruction of the State of Israel - and an end to all other claims.... The second principle - which comes along with our recognition of the Palestinians' desire for a state of their own - is a demand for full demilitarization, so that things don't go back to the way they were....We need a real solution to guarantee demilitarization...we're going to have to insist on more than just words.... From day one, we told the...entire world that negotiations have to start right away....And it would be an understatement to say that we've never received a response....We still have a real desire to complete those negotiations based on the principles I talked about earlier."
2009-12-28 07:25:22
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