Lieberman: Middle East atomic programs 'apocalyptic'
Pastor Dale Morgan
Lieberman: Middle East atomic programs 'apocalyptic'*
Yaakov Katz ,
THE JERUSALEM POST
Nov. 8, 2007
Egyptian and Saudi Arabian intentions to begin or revive their nuclear
programs in the face of Iran's continued race toward nuclear power
present an "apocalyptic scenario" for Israel as well as for the rest of
the world, Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman told The
Jerusalem Post on Thursday.
Lieberman's remarks came a week after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak
announced a decision to restart his country's nuclear program. On
Wednesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that his
country had begun operating 3,000 centrifuges for the enrichment of uranium.
"If Egypt and Saudi Arabia begin nuclear programs, this can bring an
apocalyptic scenario upon us," Lieberman told the Post. "Their
intentions should be taken seriously and the declarations being made now
are to prepare the world for when they decide to actually do it."
Lieberman also said Pakistan was a major threat to Israel due to the
political instability there and the fact that the country had "missiles,
nuclear weapons and a proven capability."
"We hope there will be stability and the [Pakistani] nuclear weapons
won't fall into radical hands," he said. "If the Taliban or [al-Qaida
leader Osama] bin Laden get control [of Pakistan] they will have nuclear
weapons for terror use and they don't hide their opinions about Israel."
Lieberman, whose office is in charge of coordinating Israel's efforts
against the Iranian threat, blasted International Atomic Energy Agency
chief Mohamed ElBaradei as a major obstacle to the West's efforts to
impose further sanctions on Iran.
"He is part of the problem, not part of the solution," Lieberman said.
"ElBaradei's behavior has not succeeded in solving anything like North
Korea or Libya's nuclear programs. And instead of criticizing Iran, he
finds it right to criticize Israel."
Lieberman said ElBaradei was delaying the UN Security Council's
consideration of a new round of sanctions by not publishing the new IAEA
report on the status of Iran's nuclear program.
"They [the IAEA and ElBaradei] are allowing Iran to stall for time and
to launder its nuclear program," Lieberman said.
Referring to Ahmadinejad's 3,000-centrifuges announcement, Lieberman
said that Israel was not surprised but that Iran still had a "way to go"
before it would succeed in operating the centrifuges to the point that
they could produce enriched uranium. On Tuesday, Military Intelligence
said Iran could produce a nuclear weapon by the end of 2009.
Lieberman said Israel needed to ignore ElBaradei and to work on its own
- together with other Western countries - to impose sanctions on the
Islamic Republic. He said the international community finally understood
that Iran was not just a threat to Israel but to the entire Free World.
"We are trying to establish sanctions outside the UN," Lieberman said,
adding that 70 percent of Iran's commerce was with Europe, the Gulf
states and Canada. "If we can get these countries to cut their ties,
this can have an effect."