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EU Foreign Affairs Chief Nominee Downplays Iranian Threats to Annihilate Israel

(Institute for Contemporary Affairs-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Amb. Alan Baker - When asked in a February 2019 media interview regarding the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, Iran's involvement in terror attacks in Europe, and repeated calls by Iran's leaders for Israel's destruction, Spanish Foreign Minister and nominee for the post of EU Foreign Affairs Chief, Josep Borrell, replied, "We will continue working with Iran. Iran wants to wipe out Israel? There's nothing new here. We have to live with it." This astounding statement indicates a serious lack of diplomacy and good sense and clearly does not augur well for the senior European foreign minister touted to become the EU's number one diplomat. In fact, Borrell seems to have perfected the art of expressing irresponsible statements over the past years, trivializing some of the most serious threats facing members of the international community. By now trivializing the oft-repeated Iranian declared intention to "wipe Israel off the map," and, as such, by giving license to a blatant call for genocide and destruction of a sovereign, member state of the international community, Borrell would appear to have crossed all accepted lines of basic decency. In light of his irresponsible statement, his candidacy to head the EU's foreign affairs department should be reconsidered. The writer served as legal adviser and deputy director-general of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
2019-07-25 00:00:00
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