Israel’s Desperate Plea to UN: Help Us Stop Iran

By Chris Mitchell
Middle East Bureau Chief

CBN.com – JERUSALEM, Israel - Last week Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad fired a verbal salvo heard around the world, when he called for Israel to be wiped off the map.

Israeli leaders called for Iran to be expelled from the United Nations, claiming it is a clear call for genocide against their nation. The United States and other Western nations will not support Israel in expelling Iran, but there is no doubt that Iran is an aspiring nuclear power, and no one --including the United States -- seems to be in a hurry to stop them.

The statement by Iran's president was the latest in a long line of declarations calling for Israel’s destruction. It began with Ayatollah Khomeini during the Iranian Revolution in 1979, and earlier this week, one of Iran’s leading spokesman re-affirmed that wiping Israel off the world map is, and has been, Iran’s official policy.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told the Knesset this week that Iran’s president said what many in the region want, but are afraid to say outloud.

Sharon also noted that Iran’s president pledged that Palestinian suicide attacks would destroy Israel. As if to amplify those remarks, a suicide bomber from Islamic Jihad, an Iranian-supported terror group, killed five Israelis the same day the threats came from Tehran.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Iran is much more than a problem for just Israel.

"I think that Iran is not Israel’s problem only, anymore,” Shalom said. “Most of the world realizes that that Iranians are developing new missiles with longer range to include most of the European capitals."

It is the combination of those long-range missiles and nuclear weapons that frightens many nations.

Here in Jerusalem, Israeli leaders ponder what will happen if or when Iran possesses a nuclear weapon. Many analysts believe that Iran might be able to build a nuclear bomb within a year. The Iranian leaders have vowed to use nuclear weapons against Israel if they are able to develop them.

Earlier this fall, a group of Israeli Knesset members from different parties came to Washington to tell Congress that if Israel has to act alone against Iran, it will, but that Israel cannot allow Iran to create a nuclear bomb.

Diplomatic efforts are continuing, but few expect diplomacy alone to stop Iran’s nuclear program. The next diplomatic confrontation will likely be later this month when Iran’s nuclear program will be discussed at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.

Translate Page