Netanyahu On Iran: We Must Not Be Deterred In Confronting Evil

JERUSALEM -” Speaking in the official memorial service Holocaust Memorial Day, which occurred on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the nations of the world: “If we have learned anything from the Holocaust, then it is that we must not remain silent or deterred when confronted with evil.†In a speech that addressed events in Iran, and although the prime minister had decided not to attend the nuclear conference hosted by President Barack Obama, Mr. Netanyahu called on all enlightened nations to rise to the task, to condemn Iran’s destructive intentions forcefully and to employ real force to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. The Israeli prime minister said that the world had gradually come to resign itself to Iran’s declarations about its intention to destroy Israel and that there were no signs of the kind of international determination required to halt Iran’s increasing strength. “Iran’s leaders are in a rush to develop nuclear weapons and openly declare their intention to destroy Israel,†said Mr. Netanyahu. “But in face of these repeated declarations that they will wipe the Jewish nation off the face of the earth, we see, in the best of cases, flaccid disapproval, which too is slowly withering. No harsh condemnation, no raised voices. Business continues as usual. And there are even those who attempt to place the blame on Israel. Today, 65 years following the Holocaust, we can say in earnest: it is the absence of outrage that is most outrageous.†Israeli President Shimon Peres also touched upon Iran’s nuclear efforts: “The U.N.’s ears must be attentive to the threats of annihilation made by one of its members against another, otherwise the foundation of the U.N.’s charter will be rendered obsolete,†said the president. “It is both our right and duty to demand that the nations of the world not repeat apathy that cost the lives of millions.†President Peres also said that weapons of mass destruction in the hands of those capable of mass destruction and with voices encouraging mass destruction — were the combination most lethal to world peace. He said that they made the world an uncontrollable environment. He said that some of the Iranians were shamed and mortified by the dictatorship that had taken them over, and that also Arab countries were aware that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s anti-Israel incitement was aimed at obscuring his real aim — Iranian hegemony over the entire region.