"Israel is not obligated by this agreement. I want to make clear we will not allow Iran to obtain military nuclear capability," [Israeli Prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu told ministers at the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, adding that Israel reserves the right to defend itself.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Ha'aretz reports:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the interim agreement reached hours prior between Iran and six world powers in Geneva over the prior's nuclear program endangered Israel, calling the deal a "historic mistake."
"Israel is not obligated by this agreement. I want to make clear we will not allow Iran to obtain military nuclear capability," Netanyahu told ministers at the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, adding that Israel reserves the right to defend itself.
Netanyahu said the deal would not adequately stop Iran, while at the same time giving it relief from sanctions.
"Today the world became a much more dangerous place because the most dangerous regime in the world made a significant step in obtaining the most dangerous weapons in the world," he said.
In their initial reactions to the agreement signed earlier Sunday between Iran and the powers, many Israel officialsi termed the deal a "bad" one.
An official in the Prime Minister's Office said that the deal allows Iran to continue enriching uranium, leaves Iran in control of all its centrifuges and does not require the heavy water reactor in Arak to be dismantled.
“The economic pressure Iran is under could have led to a much better deal that destroys Iran’s nuclear capabilities,” the official said, adding that the deal “gives Iran exactly what it wanted – a serious lessening of sanctions as well as preserving the most significant parts of its nuclear program.” …
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said earlier Sunday that Israel would act independently of the deal reached with Iran, adding that all options remain on the table.
“We have to be serious enough to take responsibility for our fate,” he told Israel Radio. “As always, all options are on the table.”
Lieberman called the deal a victory for Iran’s religious leaders.
“Obviously when you look at the smiles of the Iranians over there in Geneva, you realize that this is the Iranians’ greatest victory, maybe since the Khomeini revolution, and it doesn’t really change the situation within Iran,” said Lieberman. Referring to Iran’s supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he said “Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guard are the true rulers, not [Iranian President Hassan] Rohani.”…