Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, warned on Tuesday against the world’s silence in the face of the Iranian nuclear threat.
“It’s never been clearer that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons,” Prosor was quoted by Channel 10 News as having said during a debate in the UN Security Council. “Iran’s efforts to develop nuclear weapons pose the greatest threat to world peace and security. The silence of the Security Council will be very costly. You must act today. Tomorrow it will be too late.”
He added, “The thought of Iran being equipped with nuclear weapons must disturb the sleep from the eyes of the Council’s member states. The international community cannot stand idly by while the Ayatollah regime lethally combines extremist ideology and nuclear technology.”
Ambassador Prosor praised the oil embargo imposed on Iran by the European Union, as well as the latest sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic by the United States.
“These are major steps that will have to stand the test,” he said. “It’s time that the Security Council and the international community join the efforts, because only an immediate political and economic price can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.”
Prosor also discussed Israeli construction in Judea and Samaria and criticized the Council for slamming Israel over it. He said that the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria are not an obstacle to peace, but rather the Arabs’ demand to allow millions of refugees into Israel as well as their refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
“The Arab world is in flames and the Security Council chooses, again and again, to deal with the construction permits in Judea and Samaria,” Prosor said, adding that this fact calls into question the relevance of the Security Council. He also said the Council does not do anything to stop the rocket fire from Gaza into Israel.
Earlier on Tuesday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that “much of the world remains silent in the face of Iran’s declared intent to wipe Israel off the earth.”
At a special plenary meeting to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Netanyahu said, “Much of the world is silent in the face of calls by Hizbullah for the destruction of Israel, and its continued murderous activities. Many remain silent in the face of calls by Hamas to kill Jews wherever they are.”
He added, “This is a day when the world should unite against weapons of mass destruction falling into the hands of dark regimes, led by the Ayatollah and his regime in Iran. I send greetings to leaders of Europe and praise them for the important step of taking sanctions against Iran.”