'Israel will not fall asleep on its watch again'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken of the merits of pre-emptive strikes in what has been seen as a warning to Iran after talks on its nuclear programme.

Speaking at an event to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, Netanyahu told law makers there are situations when a strike is justified.

He said lessons had been learned since the war, which broke out when forces led by Syria and Egypt invaded Israeli land in 1973.

Thousands were killed during the 19 day conflict.

Netanyahu told the Knesset: 'The enemy can surprise us. Israel will not fall asleep on its watch again', according to the Times of Israel.

He said Israel would never again 'underestimate an enemy' or ignore warning signs.

Speaking openly about the option of a pre-emptive strike, he said: 'But there are situations in which paying heed to the international price of such a step is outweighed by the price in blood we will pay if we absorb a strategic strike that will demand a response later on, and perhaps too late.'

However, he acknowledged that such a decision would be among the most difficult a government can take.

The speech comes as Netanyahu announced plans today to hold talks next week with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry about world power talks with Iran aimed at curbing its nuclear programme and peace talks with the Palestinians.

The meeting planned for October 23 will take place in Rome, as Netanyahu visits the Italian capital for his first face-to-face meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican.

Earlier this week Netanyahu phoned David Cameron and France president Francois Hollande to urge them not to ease sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme.

The Israeli leader met U.S. President Barack Obama last week in Washington and made a speech at the U.N. General Assembly in which he said Israel was ready to stand alone to deny Iran nuclear weapons.

During the speech to the Knesset, Netanyahu spoke about the importance of buffer zones.

In remarks that will be seen as shedding light on proposed peace talks over Palestine, Netanyahu said peace is achieved when it is understood Israel is powerful.

Talks between Iran and six world powers over its nuclear programme ended today.

After discussions in Geneva involving Iran and the five U.N. Security Council members - the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia - and Germany, Moscow Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said he saw no guarantee of progress in future talks.

He said: 'The positions of the Iranian side and the group (of six powers) are wide apart from each other - the distance can be measured in kilometres, while advances forward can be measured in steps - half a metre each.'

Source: dailymail.co.uk