(Contributed by the Deputy Foreign Minister's Bureau)
Deputy Foreign Minister Ayalon addressed today (Monday, 8 March 2010) a group of senior officers from around the world at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya.
Regarding Iran, DFM Ayalon stated: "Iran is the source of instability in the Middle East. The Iranian nuclear program is not a means but a goal. Iran intends to become the leading power in the Middle East in particular and the world in general. Iran's fingerprints and seal can be found in all the violence in the Middle East."
DFM Ayalon added that "Iran supports and stands behind the extreme forces in Palestinian society – Hamas. The strengthening and arming of Iran with nuclear weapons will directly effect the strengthening of Hamas and the negative forces in the region, at the expense of the moderate forces."
Regarding the negotiations with the Palestinians, DFM Ayalon said: "We must fight the Iranian nuclear program as if there is no Palestinian problem, and continue with the Palestinian issue as if there is no Iranian problem. But if it turns out that there is a connection, then we must first resolve the Iranian issue to strengthen the moderate Palestinians and to advance the negotiations with them. Stopping a nuclear Iran will certainly contribute to the process with the Palestinians."
"All countries battling terror and sharing the common values of democracy, peace, stability and freedom, must unite around these values and form a single front against terror. We must coalesce as a moral majority against the automatic majority of the Arab countries in the United Nations," he stated.
Regarding the endangering of senior officials and arrest warrants issued against Israelis around the world, DFM Ayalon said that "Terrorism has become sophisticated – it tries to defeat the forces by exploiting the legal system. International law and the international legal system are suited to wars between armies, not to wars between an army against a terrorist organization hiding amongst the civilian population. In order to defeat terror, the legal system must be adapted to the new type of warfare."