Netanyahu to Top Russian Official: Israel Won’t Allow Iran to Obtain Nuclear Weapons

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met with Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev in Yerushalayim Monday, ahead of an unprecedented meeting of top U.S., Israeli and Russian security officials on Tuesday.

“We pay special attention to Israel’s security,” said Patrushev. He said that the meeting on Tuesday will focus on resolving the crisis in neighboring Syria to ensure Israel’s safety.

Netanyahu told Patrushev that Israel will not allow Iran to entrench militarily in Syria or obtain nuclear weapons.

“Russia understands the significance we place on the regime that calls for our destruction and works daily to achieve this goal,” said Netanyahu. “And therefore Israel won’t allow Iran, which calls for our destruction, to entrench on our border, and obviously we will do everything to prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons.”

Earlier Monday, Netanyahu said at the begining of the Cabinet meeting that “the fact that this summit is being held here in Israel is additional testimony to Israel’s unique standing among the nations at this time.

“Yesterday,” the prime minister said, “U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton and I toured the Jordan Valley. We landed on the ground and touched the soil of the Jordan Valley. I spoke there about the supreme importance of our being in the Jordan Valley in order to ensure the strategic depth and the strategic height of the State of Israel. There are those who say that our presence in the Jordan Valley prevents peace. I say the opposite. If we are not there, that ensures war, terrorism and instability that would spread in all directions – east, west, south and north.

“Therefore, our being there is a fundamental component of security and stability in our region. I gained the impression that Adviser Bolton agrees with me.

“Tomorrow I’ll lead the trilateral summit. We’ll deal with Iran, as well as Syria and other issues that impede the achieving of peace and stability in our region, which it needs very much.”

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump on Monday defined U.S. aims regarding Iran as “No Nuclear Weapons and No Further Sponsoring of Terror.”

In a tweet, Trump wrote, “The U.S. request for Iran is very simple – No Nuclear Weapons and No Further Sponsoring of Terror!”