Netanyahu warns against repeating holocaust ‘mistake’ with Iran

Bloomberg

By Gwen Ackerman

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking at a ceremony to mark Holocaust Day, said the world must avoid repeating the mistake it made with the Nazi regime and open its eyes to the Iranian nuclear threat.

“Today, just like then, there are those who dismiss Iran’s radical rhetoric as one that serves domestic purposes,” said Netanyahu. “And just like then, those who make such claims are deluding themselves. They are making a historic mistake.”

Netanyahu spoke as diplomats are seeking to accelerate talks with Iran over its nuclear program, to meet a July deadline for a final deal. The opportunity for a comprehensive deal with Iran shouldn’t be lost, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said yesterday in Iran.

“Iran wants a deal that will eliminate the sanctions and leave their nuclear capabilities intact,” Netanyahu said. “Such a deal, which will enable Iran to be a nuclear threshold state, will bring the entire world to the threshold of an abyss.”

“I hope that the lessons of the past will be learned and that the desire to avoid confrontation at any cost will not lead to a deal that will exact a much heavier price,” he said.

The Israeli leader also yesterday said he won’t negotiate with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, unless Abbas renounces his organization’s reconciliation with Hamas, the Gaza-based movement considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the U.S. and the European Union.

“Tear up your pact with Hamas, recognize the Jewish state, come back to a real peace process,” Netanyahu said in on CNN’s “State of the Union” program yesterday.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said both sides in the peace talks have taken “unhelpful steps” and put his nine-month quest for an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians on indefinite hold.

Nuclear talks with Iran resume May 13.