Prime Minister Yair Lapid said he revealed “sensitive and relevant intelligence information” on Iran’s nuclear program to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, with whom he was meeting in Berlin on Monday.
The Israeli leader also told his German counterpart that a new Iran deal would be a “grave mistake” that would lead to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East and trigger a new wave of terror attacks, and that it was time to move on from attempts to revive it.
According to Lapid, Scholz was attentive.
“We discussed the need for a new strategy to stop Iran’s nuclear program,” he said.
“Returning to the nuclear agreement, under the current conditions, would be a grave mistake,” said Lapid. “A nuclear Iran will destabilize the Middle East and create a nuclear arms race that will endanger the entire world.”
“Removing sanctions and pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into Iran would bring a wave of terrorism not only to the Middle East but across Europe,” he said.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid (R) arrive for a meeting with Holocaust survivors at the ‘House of the Wannsee Conference’ on September 12, 2022 in Berlin, Germany. (Hannibal Hanschke -Pool/Getty Images)
“Sometimes, freedom must be defended with force,” he added.
Lapid’s visit to Berlin “aims to conclude the final details of a strategic partnership agreement between Israel and Germany,” he said alongside Scholz.
“It is a practical expression of Germany’s commitment to Israel’s security as a Jewish and democratic state, a commitment you reaffirmed when you took office,” he went on.
“Israel will play a role in building Germany’s new defense force,” said Lapid, “mainly in the field of air defense.”
The latest draft of the deal, drawn up by the deal’s European partners, was nixed over Iran’s insistence that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) cease monitoring three undeclared nuclear sites after uranium traces were discovered there.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid pose for media with Holocaust survivors in front of the ‘House of the Wannsee Conference’ on September 12, 2022 in Berlin, Germany. The mansion was the location for a conference with earth-shattering consequences. In 1942, leading figures in the Nazi government and SS paramilitary organization meet here to discuss their so-called Final Solution to the Jewish Question. (Hannibal Hanschke -Pool/Getty Images)
Israel has put pressure on the U.S. to ensure that the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog continue its monitoring as part of a renewed deal.
Scholz told reporters that the Iranian demand meant that the deal was unlikely.
“We know that in the foreseeable future it will not happen although it looked like it would happen for some time,” Scholz said.
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