Intelligence Minister Dan Meridor said on Monday that Iran should not be allowed to become a nuclear power. Interviewed by the German news magazine Der Spiegel, ahead of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's visit to Germany later this week, he said, "This is not only an issue for Israel but for the whole world. It would be a victory for the extremists over the moderates in the Arab world. This worries the moderate Arab countries more than anything else. It would change the equilibrium in the Middle East; it would mean the end of the (Nuclear) Non-Proliferation Treaty."
Meridor refused to directly answer questions about a potential Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, saying, "We should concentrate now on harsher sanctions against Teheran, with America leading the way. And we are counting on the Europeans to follow with serious actions. This includes Germany, which is one of Iran's very important trading partners.
Asked if the sanctions fail to divert Iran from its present course, would Israel attack alone or only with the consent of the US, Meridor said, "I don't want to go into this. But we all see the clock ticking -- and Netanyahu knows what he's doing."