Merkel in Jerusalem: We are in the "crucial weeks" of Iran's nuclear talks. What is Merkel doing in Israel and what is her goal on the last day of her power? Mr. Netanyahu's political powers on the world stage Mr. Naftali does not have these powers

 

Merkel in Jerusalem: We are in the "crucial weeks" of Iran's nuclear talks. What is Merkel doing in Israel and what is her goal on the last day of her power? Mr. Netanyahu's political powers on the world stage Mr. Naftali does not have these powers

Moreover, there is a policy in Europe that whenever they want to make secret deals with Iran, they make official and informal trips to Israel.

So we have to wait for what kind of secret agreement Merkel has with the terrorist mullahs of Iran.

Merkel in Jerusalem: We are in ‘decisive weeks’ for Iran nuclear talks

Bennett pledges to keep Tehran from bomb, says he is pragmatic on Palestinians; German leader says Israel’s security will always be of ‘central importance,’ urges 2-state solution

German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks as she attends a cabinet meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Jerusalem, Sunday, Oct. 10, 2021. (Menahem Kahana/Pool Photo via AP)

During a joint press conference Sunday alongside Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Jerusalem, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that negotiations over the return to the nuclear deal have entered “very decisive weeks.”

She stressed that every day that goes by without an agreement, Iran continues to enrich uranium.

Merkel, who is making a farewell visit to Israel after 16 years as chancellor marked by warm relations with the Jewish state, called for greater involvement by world powers in pushing Iran back to the negotiating table in Vienna.

I see a responsibility for Russia and China here,” she said, adding that Israel’s security will be a top priority for “every German government.”

Negotiators from the US and the European parties to the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal are still waiting for Iran’s hardline president Ebrahim Raisi to return to talks in Vienna, suspended since June.

I never considered the JCPOA to be ideal, but it’s better than having no agreement,” Merkel noted.

At the press conference and at a special cabinet meeting with Merkel beforehand, Bennett underscored the danger that Iran’s nuclear program poses to the world, and pledged that Israel would do what it takes to stop Tehran from reaching nuclear weapons capability.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, give a joint press conference following a cabinet meeting at the King David Hotel, in Jerusalem, Oct. 10, 2021. (Menahem Kahana/Pool via AP)

“Iran’s nuclear program is a most advanced point ever,” said Bennett at the outset of the special cabinet meeting at King David Hotel in Jerusalem. “The world waits, the Iranians delay, and the centrifuges spin.”

A nuclear weapon in the hands of such a radical, violent regime will change the face of the region and of the world,” Bennett continued. “For us, it is not a strategic problem. It is an existential problem.”

Bennett said that over the last three years, Iran has made “a giant leap forward in its ability to enrich uranium.”

At the press conference after the cabinet meeting, Bennett argued that “accepting Iran becoming a state on the brink of nuclear capability will become a moral stain on the free world, and what’s more, it will threaten world peace.”

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett welcomes German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a special cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, October 10, 2021 (Amos Ben Gershom GPO)

Bennett pointed out that Iran, without a nuclear weapon, already supports armed proxy groups across the Middle East: “One can only imagine the damage they will cause if the world knows that behind this thuggery stands a nuclear weapon as well.”

The Iranians interpret Western attempts at reconciliation as weakness, he continued, insisting that Tehran is playing for time in order to continue to enrich uranium and undermine regional stability.

“This is a critical point, and Germany’s position is especially important.”

Merkel and Bennett disagreed publicly over a future Palestinian state.

“I think that on this point, even if at this stage it seems almost hopeless, the idea of a two-state solution should not be taken off the table, it should not be buried … and that the Palestinians should be able to live securely in a state,” Merkel said at their press conference. She also said that Israeli settlement construction in territories sought by the Palestinians was unhelpful.

“We are not ignoring the Palestinians,” said Bennett. “They are our neighbors. They’re not going anywhere, we’re not going anywhere.”

“At the same time, we have learned from experience that a Palestinian state means that it is highly likely that a terror state will emerge seven minutes away from my own house…I am a very pragmatic person. We are undertaking a series of actions on the ground in order to make things easier for everyone, for Jews, for Arabs, in Judea and Samaria, and in Gaza,” he said, using a term for the West Bank.

Merkel joined the special cabinet meeting after a morning one-on-one meeting with Bennett.

There were no plans for Merkel to meet former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is now Israel’s opposition leader. She also was not scheduled to meet with Palestinian leaders in the West Bank.

Merkel, who is currently leading a caretaker government following national elections until a new government is formed, will also visit Yad Vashem and meet Israeli high-tech leaders and entrepreneurs.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (R) meets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, October 10, 2021 ((Amos Ben Gershom, GPO)

The 67-year-old trained physicist is also to receive an honorary doctorate from Haifa’s Technion — Israel Institute of Technology.

At a joint statement before their private meeting, Bennett called Merkel “a dear friend of Israel,” and insisted that under Germany’s outgoing leader, ties between the two nations are ties were stronger than they had ever been.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/bennett-tells-visiting-merkel-iran-closer-than-ever-to-nuclear-weapon/