Israeli President: The Iranian Demon Must Starve, Not Be Fed

Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany, who traveled to Jerusalem, met with Reuven Rivlin, the President of Israel, on Thursday, October 12, prior to her meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister. During this meeting, the Israeli President strongly criticized the mechanism that the 4+1 countries have created with Iran to circumvent U.S. sanctions. Rivlin's remarks referred to the agreement made last week by the foreign ministers of Iran, Germany, Britain, France, Russia, and China during their meeting in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. He stated, "The only way to maintain stability in the Middle East is for the Iranian demon to starve, not to be fed." The German Chancellor responded to the Israeli President that "our goal of stopping Iran's nuclear plans is common, but the question is whether this should be done while maintaining the nuclear agreement or through sanctions?" Meanwhile, Merkel then stated in a joint press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, that both countries agree that Iran should never acquire nuclear weapons, but they have different views on how to achieve this goal. Merkel emphasized that "we are fully convinced and strongly agree with Israel that everything must be done to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons," adding, "What causes us not to always be united is the path to achieving this goal." The German Chancellor also reiterated that Iran's military presence in Syria and Lebanon poses a threat to Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu also stated in this press conference that "Iran must leave Syria, and Israel will do whatever it takes to defend itself to prevent Iran's efforts in Lebanon and Syria against Israel from succeeding." Since Merkel's tenure began in Germany, regular meetings between senior officials of the two countries have taken place, and the meeting on Thursday was the third meeting of the leaders of the two countries in less than 10 months. Before the joint press conference, the two leaders had a 75-minute conversation. Netanyahu stated in his joint press conference with the German Chancellor that "all countries must join hands to neutralize Iran's terrorist activities worldwide." The Israeli Prime Minister, who criticized the European powers' policy of "appeasement" towards Iran in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly last week, warned again in this press conference: Europe must not financially feed Iran. Netanyahu warned of "increased Iranian aggressiveness even in Europe," stating that this issue intensified after the JCPOA, which "deposited billions of dollars into the Iranian regime's war machine." The nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers was concluded in July 2015, but in May of this year, Donald Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from this agreement. The other five countries have stated that they will remain in the agreement as long as Iran adheres to the JCPOA, and negotiations are currently underway to preserve the nuclear agreement between Iran and three European countries, including Germany. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, also expressed his satisfaction on Thursday regarding the news of the extradition of an Iranian diplomat to Belgium. A court in Germany agreed to extradite an Iranian diplomat accused of involvement in planning an attack on a gathering of the Mojahedin-e Khalq organization in Paris. During a joint investigation by Germany, Belgium, and France regarding the accusation of "attempting to bomb the Mojahedin-e Khalq conference in Paris," an Iranian diplomat named Assadollah Assadi, who worked at the Iranian embassy in Vienna, was arrested in Germany in early July, and recently a court in Germany agreed to extradite him to Belgium. Iran has strongly denied these accusations, calling them a "wicked operation" to "give a false signal." The Israeli Prime Minister had previously stated that his country's intelligence agency, Mossad, was involved in thwarting the attack plan on the Paris conference. Angela Merkel's visit to Israel began on Wednesday evening, and the official welcoming ceremony and her visit to the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem began on Thursday morning.