by Hana Levi Julian
A former national security official in the Bush administration told American Zionists this week that the United States should deal with Iran's threat to wipe Israel off the map – before Jerusalem does.
Elliot Abrams, who served as Deputy National Security Adviser and senior director for Near East and North African Affairs in the Bush administration's National Security Council, told a symposium in Baltimore that Israelis live with “the threat of annihilation” every day. Abrams also served as Assistant Secretary of State under former President Ronald Reagan.
Currently a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, Abrams made his remarks at an April 25 symposium entitled “U.S.-Israel Relations in a New Era.”
“If the world does not act, I believe Israel will act,” he said, “and I hope the U.S. will.”Baltimore Jewish Times According to the , the former national security official pointed out that at present, there does not appear to be anyone backing up their words with actions on Iran, other than the State of Israel.
“We keep saying it's unacceptable for Iran to have a bomb, but we don't mean it,” he said. “We mean it's terrible, we don't want it. But when Israel says it's unacceptable, they mean it.”
Iran's president has repeatedly threatened to destroy the State of Israel, and although the United Nations Security Council has ordered the country to cease its nuclear development activities, the Islamic Republic is continuing its race to enrich uranium at a level that would enable it to create an atomic bomb. Three sets of sanctions imposed on Iran by the United Nations in the hopes of forcing the country to stop its uranium enrichment activities have so far been ineffective. The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany are currently meeting in New York to discuss a fourth round.
(IsraelNationalNews.com)
