THE US secretary of state has made it clear the US opposes any unilateral action by Israel to thwart Iran’s nuclear programme.
After talks in Tel Aviv yesterday with Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak, Leon Panetta said the Iranians must be made to understand that in order to become part of the international community, they must stop their nuclear programme and the funding of terror groups, but this depended on countries working together. “The US is very concerned and we will work together to do whatever is necessary” to prevent Iran from threatening the region, he said.
Mr Panetta, on his first trip to the region since becoming defence secretary, also warned against Israel’s regional isolation. “It’s pretty clear that at this dramatic time in the Middle East, when there have been so many changes, that it is not a good situation for Israel to become increasingly isolated, and that’s what’s happening,” he said.
Mr Barak said Israel must work to reduce tensions with Turkey and Egypt and find a way to resume effective negotiations with the Palestinians.
Mr Panetta said he opposed the decision by the US Congress to cut $200 million in aid to the Palestinians in response to their bid last month to seek UN endorsement of an independent state.
The defence secretary also held talks in the West Bank with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and urged him to follow Israel’s example and agree to renew peace talks without preconditions.
Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said such a scenario was possible only if Israel agreed to a settlement building freeze and accepted the 1967 borders.
Meanwhile police in Israel have stepped up security around mosques and Muslim holy sites after an arson attack badly damaged a mosque in the northern Israeli Arab village of Tuba Zangaria.
Police suspect the arsonists were Israeli right-wing extremists as the perpetrators sprayed the Hebrew words “price tag”, “revenge” and “Palmer”, the family name of a father and son who were killed in a stone-throwing incident last month while driving in the West Bank. The Palmers were Jewish settlers.
A few years ago extremist fringe elements among Jewish settlers announced a “price tag” policy, whereby Palestinians would be targeted in response to attacks on Jews or moves by the Israeli authorities to dismantle settler buildings. However, such attacks within Israel are rare.
After the arson attack, angry villagers clashed with police and blocked a nearby road before being dispersed. The attack on the Galilee village was widely condemned by politicians and religious leaders.
President Shimon Peres visited the mosque, accompanied by Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Druze leaders. He said the attack was “anti-religion, anti-Judaism and anti-morality”, adding: “We will not rest until such incidents are eradicated from the land of Israel.” Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said the shocking images of the burnt-out mosque contravened the values of the state of Israel where freedom of worship was a supreme value.