Iran Leader’s ‘Wound’ Remark Shows Threat to Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu Insists
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday Iranian president-elect Hassan Rouhani had shown his true face after he was quoted as saying Israel was a “wound” that must be removed.
Netanyahu said Rouhani, due to take office on Sunday, was no less anti-Israel than his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and said the world must not allow Iran to pursue its nuclear ambitions and threaten Israel.
“The true face of Rouhani has been revealed sooner than expected … this is what the man thinks and this is the Iranian regime’s plan of action,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
“A nation that threatens to destroy the state of Israel must not be allowed to have weapons of mass destruction,” he said.
Iran’s student news agency reported that Rouhani had said in a speech: “The Zionist regime is a wound that has sat on the body of the Muslim world for years and needs to be removed.”
Israel – widely believed to possess the Middle East’s only nuclear arsenal – says Iran is planning to build nuclear weapons and has hinted it might take military action if other nations fail to persuade Tehran to curb its atomic programme.
Iran denies it is planning to build an atomic bomb and says its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
