Israeli Leaders Call for Europe to Wake Up on Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu‏‏ and Blue and White chief Benny Gantz called on world leaders to stand up to Iran on Thursday, following news that Tehran has resumed uranium enrichment at its Fordo nuclear plant.

Netanyahu lashed Europe for “stalling” on Iranian nuclear activities and failing to act on information revealed by Israel a year ago about Iranian duplicity.

“Everything I told you a year ago has now been confirmed by the IAEA,” the premier said, referring to his exposure of the secret Turquzabad facility in last year’s U.N. General Assembly. “The IAEA has confirmed that Iran is has been violating the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Iran continues to hide its secret nuclear weapons program.

“I called on the IAEA to inspect Turquzabad. The agency indeed sent inspectors to the site. This morning the agency convened a special meeting in which it determined that Iran had lied regarding its nuclear program.

“I am telling you — it is continuing to lie,” Netanyahu asserted. “Iran is continuing to conceal its nuclear program. Iran is also continuing and has renewed even its illegal uranium enrichment, which is aimed solely at producing nuclear weapons.

“It’s time for the nations of the world to resist Iran’s aggression and terror,” Netanyahu added. “It’s time to snap back sanctions. It’s time to pressure Iran until it changes its ways. Iran must stop attacking the nations of the Middle East. Iran must stop threatening to destroy Israel. Europe must stop stalling. It must act against Iranian aggression now.”

In his own statement on Thursday, Benny Gantz stressed the national consensus in Israel on Iran.

“There is no political disagreement [in Israel] regarding the Iranian threat — we are all committed to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.”

The development “is another wake-up call for the world — pressure must be increased and sanctions tightened,” Gantz said in a tweet. “Iran is dangerous for the world’s security. Iran is dangerous for Middle East stability. Iran is dangerous for Israel.”