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Netanyahu Says EU's Response On Iran Recalls Nazi Appeasement


Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem, Sunday, June. 30, 2019.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem, Sunday, June. 30, 2019.

For a second time in as many days Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made harsh remarks regarding Iran on Monday; this time involving the European response to Iran’s decision breaching some limits of the 2015 nuclear agreement.

Netanyahu released a video condemning the European response and likening it to the failed diplomacy with Nazi Germany in the months preceding World War Two. Netanyahu's video was tweeted from his Persian Twitter account.

"(It) reminds me of the European appeasement of the 1930s," Netanyahu said in a video statement after EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said none of the parties to a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran saw its increased uranium enrichment as "significant non-compliance".

Netanyahu took issue with Europe’s conciliatory tone, saying, "Then, too, there were those who stuck their head in the sand and did not see the approaching danger.,” adding, "It seems there are those in Europe who will not wake up until Iranian nuclear missiles land on European soil. But then it will be too late, of course".

Iran started to scale back on its commitments under the nuclear agreement from May, demanding Europe to resume trade, ignoring U.S. sanctions.

Alluding to Israel's long-standing if veiled threat of a last-resort war against its arch-foe, Netanyahu said: "In any event, we will continue to do whatever is necessary to prevent Iran getting nuclear weaponry."

On Sunday, Netanyahu said in a speech that the Israeli army is the only force ready to fight Iran, emphasizing that he was the only leader who had opposed the nuclear accord.

"I had to fight alone to block the nuclear agreement," Netanyahu said. "I had to fight against all the powers and against the president of the United States - I went to the American Congress.”

With reporting by Reuters

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