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UNDATED PHOTO: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu [Getty Images]
In an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu stressed that "95% of the problems in the Middle East emanate from Iran.” Except for Palestine, Tehran is perhaps Jerusalem's most bitter and longstanding enemy. The Iranians have been accused of sponsoring groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad - all who publicly seek the destruction of Israel as a nation-state. Iran is also undertaking a uranium enrichment program that is reportedly close to nuclear bomb-making capability.
Mr. Netanyahu also appeared to caution Saudi Arabia about its recent detente with Iran, an arrangement brokered by China that reestablished ties between the two rival Muslim nations starting last month .
“Those who partner with Iran partner with misery. Look at Lebanon, look at Yemen, look at Syria, look at Iraq,” he told Hadley Gamble of CNBC. Tehran had not commented in response at the time of this post.
While Netanyahu has been aggressive in his pursuit for normalization with Saudi Arabia, he seemed to downplay China's surging role as an international peace mediator but also urged the United States to do more in this space.
“I’m not aware of any specific offer of this kind,” he said while referring to Chinese initiatives to broker a deal to end the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. “Look, we respect China, we deal with China a great deal. But we also know we have an indispensable alliance with our great friend the United States,” he continued. “I think it’s very important for the US to be very clear about its commitment and engagement in the Middle East.”
But China has been very public for many years, and has recently re-energized its publicity campaign, about its goal of bringing the Israelis and Palestinians to the peace-negotiating table. The Palestinians have expressed more interest in China than in the US in terms of mediator nations. Meanwhile, Israeli diplomats have attended two different peace summits with US and other Arab officials including the Palestinians - spurring an anonymous Palestinian official to tell the Jerusalem Post last month that the Netanyahu regime has revived the peace initiative.
To help seal a Palestinian peace deal, the Israeli PM seems to want Iran isolated while extending an olive branch to the Saudis. “We’d like very much to have peace with Saudi Arabia. Because I think it would be another huge quantum leap for peace. In many ways it would end the Arab-Israeli conflict,” the Israeli prime minister told CNBC on Wednesday, noting this could pave the path for further diplomacy with Palestinians. “We would like to expand the circle of peace to its totality,” he added.
Christians are watching to see how the recent Middle East peace wave plays out in terms of fulfilling end times prophesy on the return of Jesus Christ. Christian Commander consistently reports about the ramifications of a peace deal between the Israelis and Palestinians relating to Daniel's 70 Weeks Prophesy. Stay tuned to this space for the latest updates, news and watch guard reporting.
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