On Sunday, July 7, far-right Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Britain, France and Germany to impose severe sanctions on Tehran after the Iran announced that it is about to exceed its uranium enrichment limit set by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal. Netanyahu shockingly likened Iran’s move to Nazi Germany’s occupation of the Rhineland in 1936.
MK Yousef Jabareen (Photo: Al Ittihad)
This was just the latest in a long line of the warmongering rhetoric from the Israeli Prime Minister, who has been stoking tensions with Tehran since he came into power in 2009. During his campaign at the time, he said he would do “everything necessary” to stop Iranian scientists developing a nuclear weapon.
In an exclusive interview with the British newspaper Express, Knesset Member Dr. Yousef Jabareen (Hadash) explained how Netanyahu likes to keep Iran at the center of the conversation in order to cement his own political position. “Netanyahu will do anything to survive. A war is maybe the only thing that could save him [politically] – and so, military attacks on Gaza and tensions with Iran could end up serving him towards this end. Netanyahu wants Iran to be the main issue in the Middle East. He has also been reaching out to the Arab states, arguing that Iran is a common enemy for Israel and for all countries in the region,” Jabareen said.
According to Dr. Jabareen, Netanyahu will continue to rebuff any efforts for peace talks with Tehran. He added: “Any involvement against Iran will definitely be a risk, but it seems clear he is doing everything he can to be an obstacle to a peace deal. Tensions are the result of hypocrisy on the Israeli side because it has nuclear weapons and a facility that is not under the supervision of the international community. There is a double standard – on one hand, they prevent any international supervision of their own facility while demanding strong supervision of Iran.”
Dr. Jabareen is hoping that his own electoral coalition of Hadash (The Democratic Front for Peace and Equality) and three Arab parties can succeed in the next September’s elections and put pressure on Netanyahu’s own alliance to seek talks with Iran instead of conflict. “The Iranians say that they are willing to reach a compromise – and this is the right way to do it. Political negotiations and compromise are the key – any alternative would be a disaster for the entire world,” said the Hadash MK.
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