Netanyahu Says Iran Policy Same as Begin’s

In a speech to dozens of foreign ambassadors on Monday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu invoked the name of former prime minister Menachem Begin in reiterating his pledge to prevent Iran from threatening Israel with nuclear weapons.

“Israel’s policy has not changed since Begin. Israel will not allow regimes that seek our annihilation to acquire nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said, referring to Begin’s ordering of the destruction of the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq to prevent Saddam Hussein from acquiring nuclear weapons.

“This is why we opposed so resolutely the Iran deal, because it gives Iran a clear path to a nuclear arsenal. It allows, over a few years, unlimited enrichment of uranium, the core ingredient required to produce nuclear bombs — and nothing else — and it also does not deal with the ballistic missiles that can deliver this weapon to many, many countries. This is why this deal has to be either fully fixed or fully nixed.”

“We must act on the matter of the Iranian deal and say — fix it from the ground up or cancel it from the ground up,” the prime minister said.

The remarks were made at the Begin Heritage Center in Yerushalayim to mark the state’s 70th anniversary.