Gilad Erdan
Gilad ErdanShahar Azran

At a meeting of the United Against a Nuclear Iran organization on Wednesday, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, spoke of the need for countries around the world to refuse to rule out a military option against Iran.

Also speaking at the conference were the former US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, the Bahraini ambassador the UN, and former US Senator Joe Lieberman.

"Economic sanctions against a cruel regime such as the Iranian regime will not be effective," Erdan stressed during his speech. "Just this morning, [Iranian President Ebrahim] Raisi noted that his country has built economic relations with additional states and that these connections will enable it to neutralize the impact of sanctions.

"The conclusion must be that the only way to stop Iran from going nuclear is to use a combination of diplomatic isolation, crippling sanctions, and - most important of all - a credibly military threat. As Raisi said, sanctions alone will not help. A credible military threat will be the deciding factor. We must force the regime of the Ayatollahs to choose between their dangerous nuclear program and remaining in power."

Erdan added that, "The person who wishes for peace must prepare for war. Israel will not sit with arms folded when our future security is endangered. Israel will not be obligated to any international agreement that endangers our existence. We will not hesitate to protect ourselves and all options will remain on the table. Iran will never have the bomb."