BENJAMIN Netanyahu has condemned the international community for its muted reaction to the interception of a shipment of weapons from Iran.
The Israeli Prime Minister said yesterday he had heard only “faint condemnation” from world leaders since Israel captured the weapons.
Mr Netanyahu made the comments as he stood by the cargo of 40 Syrian-made M-302 surface-to-surface missiles, 181 mortars and an estimated 400,000 bullets, which had been unloaded on to the wharf at a naval base in Eilat, southern Israel.
Although he did not name EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, as he had the previous day, he again made reference to her visit this week to Iran.
“We witnessed the smiles and handshakes of Western representatives with Iranian leaders in Tehran even as these missiles were being unloaded here in Eilat,” he said.
“In contrast, if we build a balcony in Jerusalem we hear harsh condemnations from the international community.”
Mr Netanyahu is attempting to keep Iran at the forefront of international discussions.
While the White House and some European leaders have sought to make the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a priority in talks with Israel, Mr Netanyahu has made clear he sees Iran as a much more crucial.
He said in Eilat: “Iran sent these missiles to terrorists and Iran is brazenly lying. Iran hasn’t changed, Iran’s true ruler is not the smiling (President Hasan) Rouhani, he’s nothing more than a PR man.
“The real ruler of Iran is Ayatollah Khamenei, who is aptly called the Supreme Leader.”
Iran has rejected any role in the shipment and suggested the timing of the interception was planned to coincide with Mr Netanyahu’s recent visit to the US.
The Israeli Defense Forces yesterday rejected any such suggestion. IDF spokesman Peter Lerner, told The Australian: “The interception took place based on operational considerations. We wanted to intercept it ... before it reached Port Sudan.
“The reason we are doing the press conference today is that since the ship arrived late Saturday, it took 24 hours to search through the 150 containers and we completed that late last night.”
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Benjamin Netanyahu
Israeli Primre Minister
He said the M-302 missiles were more lethal than the Fajr missiles fired by Hamas towards Tel Aviv in the 2012 war.
Mr Netanyahu said had the weapons reached Gaza, “they would have made deadly use of them towards the citizens of Israel”. He said for many in the international community the capture of the arms shipment was awkward because Israel was exposing “what is behind the fake smiles of Iran”.
“The missiles we uncovered today were intended to strike at the citizens of Israel,” he said. “My message today is simple: those engaged in self-deception must awaken from their slumber.
“We cannot allow Iran to have the capability to develop nuclear weapons. If Iran’s military nuclear program is not stopped the whole world could be imperilled.”
Mr Netanyahu said “future crates” from Iran could be armed with nuclear weapons, which “they could send to every port around the world ... Before it is too late, the world must wake up from the illusion it is in”.