(Permanent Mission of Israel to the UN) Amb. Ron Prosor - Israel's UN Ambassador Ron Prosor told the Security Council on Thursday: Ten years ago, this month, Israel disengaged from Gaza and dismantled four settlements in the West Bank in order to show that there is a political horizon. We removed thousands of Israeli families from their homes, uprooted entire communities, and withdrew every unit of the Israel Defense Forces. We were told that if only Israel would pull back, if only Israel would leave the Palestinians to run their own affairs, there would be peace. So we did. Ten years after withdrawing from Gaza, the territory we left has become a safe haven for terrorists. Apparently Hamas didn't get the memo that an Israeli withdrawal was supposed to end the jihad against its people. Since the disengagement, terrorist groups have fired 15,000 rockets and mortars at Israeli citizens. They have dug terror tunnels underneath the border to attack Israeli towns and communities. Israel doesn't have the luxury of waiting for the rest of the world to wake up. Before the West had to deal with the Islamic State halfway around the world, Israel had to deal with the Hamas terror state on our doorstep. One year ago, Israel was forced to protect its people after Hamas terrorists kidnapped and killed three Israeli youth, launched hundreds of rockets and mortars at Israel, and rejected or violated every truce offered to the parties. The Israel Defense Forces faced a cruel and cynical enemy which violated every code of morality the civilized world holds dear. Hamas launched their indiscriminate attacks from residential areas. Hospitals, schools, and UN facilities were used as weapons depots; playgrounds were used as launching pads. Three days ago, this Council adopted a resolution endorsing the nuclear agreement with Iran. This agreement is an historic mistake that brings Iran closer to achieving its 30-year goal of attaining nuclear weapons, and fuels its drive for imperial expansion. Ayatollah Khamenei declared that even after the agreement is signed, Iran will continue supporting terrorists in the Middle East and around the world. This agreement grants Iran not one, but two paths to the bomb. Iran can get the bomb by cheating, or it can get the bomb by keeping the deal for ten years, and then assembling it immediately afterwards. In the summer of 2015, the countdown to Iran becoming a threshold nuclear state has begun. In 5 years the embargo against conventional weapons will end, in 8 years they can acquire missile technology, in 10 years, unlimited centrifuges. This is not disarmament, this is a timetable for Iran to build nuclear weapons In future years, the consequences of this mistake will become clear to all, but for Israel, tomorrow is already too late.
2015-07-24 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive