Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke Monday (Monday) at the Begin Heritage Center in front of dozens of foreign ambassadors at a special event marking the 70th anniversary of the State of Israel.
Netanyahu addressed the Iranian threat and said that Israel's policy remained the same as that of former Prime Minister Menachem Begin, who ordered the destruction of the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq to prevent Saddam Hussein from acquiring nuclear weapons.
"Israel’s policy has not changed since Begin. Israel will not allow regimes that seek our annihilation to acquire nuclear weapons," Netanyahu said."
"This is why we opposed so resolutely the Iran deal, because it gives Iran a clear path to a nuclear arsenal. It allows, over a few years, unlimited enrichment of uranium, the core ingredient required to produce nuclear bombs—and nothing else—and it also does not deal with the ballistic missiles that can deliver this weapon to many, many countries. This is why this deal has to be either fully fixed or fully nixed.
"I believe that Begin exemplified for us the commitment to defend Israel’s security at all costs."
"We must act on the matter of the Iranian deal and say - fix it from the ground up or cancel it from the ground up," the prime minister stressed.
Later, Netanyahu said that "Begin's legacy teaches us that Israel will know how to stand and defend itself, and even then there were those who came out against the attack in the world and whom later supported it." Netanyahu said that Begin was outstanding in his leadership because of his desire for justice for the citizens and for Israel.
The head of the Begin Heritage Center, Herzl Makov, said: "Begin adopted the worldview of Ze'ev Jabotinsky. He wanted to listen and to share friends from among the nations, and at the same time he always made sure that he was act in Israel's interests, like when he decided to strike the reactor in Saddam Hussein's Osirak." WATCH
