Israeli Defense Minister: Arab Countries Seeking Military Nuclear Program

General Moshe Ya'alon, Israel's Defense Minister, stated that Arab countries do not trust the Iranian nuclear agreement and that Israel sees 'signs' that several of these countries are 'seeking a military nuclear program.' According to Israel Radio's report on Sunday, February 14, Ya'alon made this claim during his recent two-day meetings at the Munich Security Conference in Germany with numerous defense and foreign ministers from various countries. He mentioned that 'all existing signs indicate that Arab countries are exploring ways to acquire nuclear weapons and cannot sit idly by while Iran develops a nuclear bomb.' He did not specify which 'Arab countries' he was referring to. In a speech on Saturday evening at the Munich conference, Ya'alon called for strict oversight of the Iranian nuclear agreement, stating that 'Iran has a history of hypocrisy in its nuclear program, and it is necessary for the implementation of the agreement to be under the close supervision of the international community.' He also labeled the Islamic Republic of Iran as 'the largest producer of terrorism in the world,' claiming that 'armed gangs have emerged with Iran's help in Europe, America, and other parts of the world to activate at the right time.' Ya'alon referred to what he called the 'Tehran-Damascus-Beirut axis' as a frightening threat to his country, alluding to the alliance between the Islamic Republic of Iran, Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria, and Hezbollah in Lebanon. He stated that the empowerment of this axis poses a serious danger to the region and the world. According to Haaretz, Ya'alon also mentioned that 'as long as Iran is present in Syria, Syria will not return to the conditions before the war, and fragmented Sunni groups will not allow Syria to stabilize.' He described the Syrian crisis as 'a war between Shia and Sunni, and the Sunnis are not willing to surrender.' He added that 'the presence of Iran and ISIS in Syria presents two bad options for Israel, the region, and the West.' At the Munich conference, Ya'alon met with King Abdullah II of Jordan, Yukiya Amano, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the foreign and defense ministers of Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Switzerland, and Canada, but despite the presence of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the meeting, there was no meeting between the two. Ya'alon and Kerry have a very cold relationship; Ya'alon previously stated that 'Kerry knows as much about the Middle East as a sparrow.' Meanwhile, Haaretz reported on Sunday that Israel and the U.S. have encountered 'serious disagreements' regarding the provision of a new military aid package to Israel. According to Haaretz, while Netanyahu's government was eager to secure about $50 billion in military aid from the U.S. over a ten-year period, the Obama administration apparently agreed to a figure of around $35 billion. This means that the U.S. is willing to increase the annual aid to Israel, which was previously $3.1 billion, by $400 million per year, bringing it to $3.5 billion. Netanyahu stated last week that if the aid package 'does not meet Israel's important security needs,' Israel would wait for a new president to enter the White House. However, the U.S. government emphasized in response that 'no U.S. president has provided military aid to Israel like Obama has,' and called on Netanyahu's government to agree to the new package. The increase in U.S. military aid to Israel is seen as a form of 'compensation' for the JCPOA, the final nuclear agreement with Iran.