Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon
Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alonMinistry of Defense/Flash 90

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon met with Spanish Defense Minister Pedro Morenés in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, where he stressed the need for cooperation between Israel and Spain in light of ongoing tensions in the Middle East. 

"I'm glad to have you here, and happy about the relationship between the state and defense establishments," Ya'alon stated. "The Middle East has already been in a state of instability for a long time, and there is not, at the moment, a way to stabilize it in the future." 

Ya'alon then addressed a number of specific threats, including Hamas and Iran.

"Hamas's interest now is not for the situation to deteriorate," he said, "because of the heavy price it paid during Operation Protective Edge."

"Hamas's terrorist headquarters is in Gaza and Istanbul," he continued.

"It's unbelievable that NATO would allow a terror organization to host a headquarters in its territory," he said of Turkey.

"We, for example, stopped a coup planned by Hamas, which was ordered among other things from its headquarters in Turkey, against [Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud] Abbas in the West Bank [PA - ed.]," he added. "We saved him from facing an uprising. So it is significant and important that we have freedom of action regarding security in the West Bank [here, Judea-Samaria - ed.]."

More recently, a major terror plot foiled by Israeli security services - a plot which included an attack on Jerusalem's Teddy Stadium - was revealed to have been planned and coordinated by the head of Hamas's Turkish branch, Salah Al-Arouri.

Al Arouri is also believed to have ordered the kidnap and murder of three Israeli teenagers last summer, which helped spark the 50-day war with Gaza terrorist groups.

Despite that, Ya'alon maintained that the prime destabilizing factor in the region remains Iran. 

"Iran remains the main factor in the Middle East's instability, and we must find some way to stop this regime, not only on the nuclear issue," he stated. "It is a hostile regime that challenges the West here in the region and has operatives everywhere, not only against Israel but also [against] Western interests all over the world."

"We believe it is a necessity to add to any agreement with Iran [clauses also against] its support for terrorism, [and] the military dimension of the nuclear and missile project," he continued, "and the West must have the tools to deal with this messianic regime."

"This can be done, among other things, by increasing the sanctions [against it]," he added. "If ISIS and the Iranian regime will fall - it will be a great success to the West."

Morenés responded by praising Israel on its military expertise and technological development. 

"You are geniuses in developing military systems and upgrading existing military systems," he said. "You may only be 7 million people, but you are far ahead of your time."