Netanyahu: Israel will go after Iran's nuclear program alone if it has to

  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said he is not impressed by the new Iranian President Hassan Rohani's "charm offensive," and warned that Israel will act alone to stop Teherans nuclear ambitions if it has to. Addressing the General Assembly, Netanyahu said "I want there to be no confusion on this point. Israel will not allow Iran to get nuclear weapons. If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone. Yet, in standing alone, Israel will know that we will be defending many, many others. "I know that some in the international community think I'm exaggerating this threat. Iran's fanaticism is not bluster. It's real," he warned. He noted that the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran and the emergence of other threats in the region have led "many of our Arab neighbors to recognize, finally recognize, that Israel is not their enemy. And this affords us the opportunity to overcome the historic animosities and build new relationships, new friendships, new hopes." He added that Israel welcomes engagement with the wider Arab world, expressing hope that "our common interests and common challenges will help us forge a more peaceful future. And Israel continues to seek an historic compromise with our Palestinian neighbors, one that ends our conflict once and for all." He said "it is true that Rohani doesn't sound like his predecessor Ahmadinejad ... . "Why would a country that claims to only want peaceful nuclear energy build hidden underground enrichment facilities? ... Why would a country with vast natural energy reserves invest billions in developing nuclear energy? And why would a country with a peaceful nuclear program develop intercontinental ballistic missiles, whose sole purpose is to deliver nuclear warheads?" he wondered. He said one would not build such weapons for peaceful purposes, insisting that Iran builds them for "one purpose, to carry nuclear warheads," quoting the US Administration that warned that these weapons could reach New York "in three or four years." He recalled that when he spoke to the Assembly last year, he drew a red line and now Iran "has been very careful not to cross that line," adding that it is positioning itself to "race across that line in the future at a time of its choosing. "Iran wants to be in a position to rush forward to build nuclear bombs before the international community can detect it and much less prevent it," he insisted. He said in order to avert a military strike on Iran, "meaningful" diplomacy should pressure Iran to cease all uranium enrichment, remove from Iran's territory the stockpiles of enriched uranium, dismantle the infrastructure for nuclear breakout capability, including the underground facility at Qom and the advanced centrifuges in Natanz, and stop all work at the heavy water reactor in Iraq aimed at the production of plutonium. He said Israel would want to give diplomacy with Iran a chance to succeed, "but when it comes to Iran, the greater the pressure, the greater the chance." Recalling President Ronald Reagans famous saying three decades ago "trust but verify," Netanyahu advised that with Iran "distrust, dismantle and verify." On the decades old Israeli Palestinian conflict, he said "we want peace based on security and mutual recognition, in which a demilitarized Palestinian state recognizes the Jewish state of Israel. "For peace to be achieved, the Palestinians must finally recognize the Jewish state, and Israel's security needs must be met," he insisted.