Israeli Prime Minister went on another fiery tirade against Iran, comparing the Islamic Republic with Hitler’s Germany, claiming both shared the goal to exterminate all Jews.
“Obviously, there are some differences between the Nazi Germany and Islamic Republic of Iran,” Benjamin Netanyahu generously allowed, “but both regimes do have two important things in common: one, a ruthless commitment to impose tyranny and terror, and second, a ruthless commitment to murder Jews,” he claimed in a video message, filmed for the Saban Forum, a conference on the US policy in the Middle East, that kicked off in Washington on Sunday.
The Israeli leader has recently ratcheted up his angry rhetoric towards Iran, repeatedly accusing it of gaining a military foothold in Syria to attack Israel and vowing to “act alone” to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
A short clip from the video was released Saturday, hours after a missile allegedly fired by Israel struck the countryside near Damascus. Syria’s state media reported the missiles hit a military site, causing material damage. However, some other news sources reported that the missiles targeted an Iranian military base, allegedly being built in the area.
Netanyahu justified his incessant focus on Iran, saying that he cannot afford the “luxury of discounting their genocidal threats of the express purpose to eradicate our state.”
He then went to predict a demise of the “Iranian regime,” claiming that Israel would be “the first in line to restore relations” when that happens.
Reiterating his earlier claims that Israel has been covertly cooperating with several Arab nations, he expressed hope that in “40 or 100” years, Israel “will be embraced openly by its Arab neighbors.”
The Israeli leader once again bashed the nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers as a threat to the Jewish state’s existence, calling on other nations to follow US President Donald Trump’s lead in “erasing the great flaws” of the milestone agreement. Despite numerous International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] assurances that Tehran remains in full compliance with the 2015 deal, allows inspections and did not exceed the 300-kilogram limit set for its enriched uranium stockpiles, Netanyahu insists on either changing or scrapping the universally acclaimed deal.
Former US State Secretary John Kerry has recently revealed that Netanyahu was “genuinely agitating” for US taking military action against Iran before the nuclear deal was sealed.
While Iranian-backed Hezbollah militias have been fighting ISIS alongside the Syrian forces, the Israeli leadership itself seems to be split on the issue if actual Iranian forces are present in Syria. Israel’s Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman recently stated that “there is no Iranian military force on Syrian soil,” apart from “some Iranian advisers and experts.”
Russia has been insisting that Iran, which on par with Turkey and Russia serves as a guarantor of a ceasefire in Syria, is present in the country on legitimate terms, invited by the Syrian government, as opposed to the US-led coalition.