Israel offers historic 'bigger picture of hope' and firm EU relations
In an extended interview with Euronews on Thursday, Israel's ambassador to the EU and NATO Haim Regev said Israel is in a 'tough war with Iran' not just to destroy its nuclear programme and missiles, but also to defend Europe, to save lives in Ukraine, and to create a space for opportunity and new hope in the Middle East.
But Regev also made it bluntly clear that Israel 'is not negotiating with anybody on the Iran and Gaza threats', when asked about a reset with the EU over Iran following the convulsions of the Gaza crisis.
'We are now doing what is good for the state of Israel, removing the nuclear and missile threat and also on the other hand releasing the hostages from Gaza and eliminating the capability of Hamas to stay there," the ambassador expressed Israel's position in its ongoing dialogue with Brussels.
"So it's not a matter of let's do and let's negotiate and give you that and get that. This is not the case here,' Regev said.
Regev said Israel took action against Iran because it did not have a choice, 'to remove a direct threat to the state of Israel', addressing full frontal the fact that diplomacy, agreements and sanctions failed to work.
When asked about regime change in Iran, the Israeli ambassador chose to underline that Israel's offensive in Iran is 'exceeding the original military plan, getting close to achieve all goals for this war'.
As a result, Israel has the capability to act on multiple fronts to 'remove the nuclear and missile threat from Iran and the terror threat in Gaza,' according to Regev.
But the effects of the decisive action against Iran go beyond the Middle East, Israel's top diplomat said, underlining that it is also set to protect Europe because 'Iran poses a threat also to Europe.'
'When people ask me, why not to solve it with diplomacy, I ask why does Iran need a 4,000-kilometre missile to reach Brussels and other places? For what do they need it? For what? Is there any threat that Europe poses to Iran militarily? Why is Iran developing this missile? Why is Iran promoting terror? Why is Iran supporting Russia,' Regev asked.
Following up with a strong, unequivocal statement for Israel, the ambassador said that 'targetting Iranian missile facilities is saving Ukrainian lives, by harming Iran's ability to supply missiles and drones to Russia, contributing or diminishing their capability to harm Ukrainians through Russia because Iran is one of the big supporters of Russia's war with Ukraine.'
When asked about Moscow's offer to mediate the Iran-Israel conflict, the ambassador dismissed the idea swiftly by saying 'right now we are not interviewing leaders for who is going to be the mediator.'
Through all these developments, according to Regev, Israel sees this reality taking shape as 'an opportunity', due to what he calls 'our success'. 'For the first time in years, there is a hope for the people of the region," he said.
In Israel's view, he explained, radical groups such as 'the Mullahs in Iran, the Houthis in Yemen, Assad in Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon' controlled the regimes in countries surrounding Israel.
'The idea was let's speak with them, international community, let's try to reach an agreement, let's start to do something, let's start to appease them. It didn't work."
"For the first time in a decade there is a hope for the people there, because see what's happening in Lebanon, see what's happening in Syria. And I hope that we'll see it in Iran. It's thanks to the Israeli operation on the ground,' said the Israeli ambassador, outlining his country's future Middle East policy vision.
'And maybe, not maybe, I'm sure that for the long run it will improve the situation on the ground for the people of the region. For the people of Israel, of course, but also the people in the region,' he said.
But, he stressed, Israel 'is paying a price for that, we understand that this is something that we need to do once and for all, whatever price we will pay. This is right now an opportunity that we cannot stop in the middle,' he expressed the current Israeli decisive mindset.
Israel now sees any future diplomacy in a different paradigm, contrary to the formats that attempted to contain Iran's nuclear programme over the last years.
'When Israel has removed most of the threat, we expect Europe and the international community will step in and verify that Iran is not going back to be a bad player,' he specified.
Since Israel believes that the previous diplomacy formats failed leading to the current crisis, the ambassador underlined again and again throughout the interview the need for Europe and the international community to initiate a new framework in which 'diplomacy will play a role, but this time will be more concrete, practical with the specific outcomes.'
'Israel does not have any interest to go to a large-scale war and I'm not sure that also Iran is interested in that or their regime. So the best thing is to keep pressing Iran, put a strong stand by the international community and Europe, warning Iran."
"They need to understand that nobody is standing with them, and there will be consequences for them to go for a larger scale. So I think it also depends on how the international community in Europe will react to this threat. Directly towards Iran,' the Israeli ambassador presented his government's view of the Middle East's post-war reality.
Asked if negotiations can yield results now, the ambassador answered briefly: 'We are right now focusing on achieving the goal of our military operation.'
'But it needs to be followed by strong measures by the international community, including Europe. This time it should be strict. No nuclear, no missiles."
"Without any loopholes or without any trying and attempts to overcome this sanction,' Regev outlined Israel's position on any future negotiation, 'when the war is over."
Israel's ambassador to the EU chose to be equally clear and firm about his government's current interactions with the European Union on the crisis with Iran, saying 'we hear different tones, but at the end of the road we see and we feel the support.'
The Israeli government has 'a continuous and intensive interaction' with the top EU institutions in Brussels, but 'of course it is complicated when it comes to have one position in the Union composed of 27 member states.'
When asked if he perceives a reset over Iran after the political reactions over the Gaza crisis, Regev said, 'It depends on who you ask, it's the honest answer."
'There is a war right now and Israel is actually leading this war against Iran, that this is the war also for the benefit, for the long run of Europe. So this is not the time right now to examine or to push things or to try to put obstacles in the Israel-EU relations."
"This is definitely not the time or the day after we got hit by rockets, with many dozens of civilians injured and killed. Right now it's time to focus on this war with Iran and this is what we expect that the EU will do,' Regev stated.
But still, he chose to make it clear that the 'operation in Gaza is not related to Israel's relation with the EU, but it is related to what is happening on the ground' even if 'there is a group that pushes for reviewing and keeps putting the issue of Gaza on the table, while there are other groups that understand that this is not the time.'
'And this is what we try to do, to push more for the group and the actors that understand that this is not the time right now,' the ambassador seemed to urge the pro-Israel voices to speak up.
'There are still 53 hostages there, and they must be released before if we want to end this war. Second, as long as Hamas is there, controlling Gaza, we don't want to see them the day after."
"So we want this war to end, like everybody. But we want the hostages back and we want to see that Hamas does not have any control. It's not only related to our relation with the EU, and we try as much as we can to explain this line,' Regev concluded.
"We believe that the minimum thing Europeans can do is to very explicitly condemn Israel and stop their support for Israel," Iran's ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva Ali Bahraini said in an interview for Euronews.
Bahraini said Europe's reluctance to condemn Israel's aggression and its inability to keep the nuclear deal (JCPOA) afloat have all contributed to the current intensifying hostilities between Iran and Israel, now in their seventh day.
"The impunity which has been given to Israel is something which encourages that entity to continue committing new crimes. And this impunity is because of inaction by Europeans. By the United States and the Security Council," Bahraini explained.
"We request and we ask Europe to push Israel to stop the aggression. Europe should play its responsibility to put an end to the impunity that Israel is enjoying. Europe should stop helping or assisting Israel financially, militarily, or by intelligence. And Europe should play a strong role in explaining for the United States and for Israel that Iranian nuclear technology is not something which they can destroy."
Bahraini said that what he called Europe's "failures" would be presented to the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom – known collectively as the E3 – at talks in Geneva on Friday.
They are meeting in Switzerland to discuss Iran's nuclear programme, which is at the heart of the current conflict with Israel.
Iran was previously subject to an international nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which saw the country receive sanctions relief in exchange for strict limits on its nuclear activities.
During his first term in office, President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the pact in 2018, slamming it as "the worst deal ever negotiated" and slapping new sanctions on Iran.
Since then, the other signatories to the deal have scrambled to keep Iran in compliance, but Tehran considers the deal void and has continued with uranium enrichment, which at current levels sits at 60%.
That's still technically below the weapons-grade levels of 90%, but still far above the 3.67% permitted under the JCPOA.
Iran maintains that its nuclear programme is peaceful and purely for civilian purposes. Israel, on the other hand, says Tehran is working towards the construction of a nuclear weapon, which could be used against Israel.
Bahraini told Euronews that there is still a window for diplomacy to reach a new nuclear deal, but first, the fighting with Israel has to stop.
"For our people and for our country, now the first priority is to stop aggression, to stop attacks," he told Euronews.
"I personally cannot imagine there would be a strong probability at the moment for a kind of diplomatic idea or initiative because for us it would be inappropriate if we think or talk at the moment about anything rather than stopping the aggressors," Bahraini pointed out.
Parallel to the daily exchanges of missile and drone strikes that have taken place since last Friday, the conflict has also led to an escalating war of words, particularly between Trump and some senior figures in Iran.
When asked by reporters on Wednesday whether he intended to bring the US military into the conflict to strike Iran alongside Israel, Trump said, "I may do it, I may not do it. Nobody knows what I'm going to do."
While Trump appeared to avoid a direct commitment to military action, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu interpreted his comments as a show of support and, in a television address later on Wednesday evening, thanked Trump for "standing by us".
Into that mix came Iran's mission to the United Nations, which said no officials from the country would "grovel at the gates of the White House" to reach a nuclear deal with the United States.
Bahraini said it was clear to him that "the United States has been complicit to what Israel is doing now."
He said Iran would respond very firmly if the United States "crosses the red lines" and said that strikes on the country had not been ruled out.
"Our military forces are monitoring the situation. It is their domain to decide how to react," he said.
"What can I tell you for sure is that our military forces have a strong dominance on the situation, they have a very precise assessment and calculation about the movements of the United States. And they know where the United States should be attacked," Bahraini warned.
Bahraini also said that Iran has not requested any international support and is protecting itself independently.
Iran funds a string of militant groups around the region, including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen, and while they all have different aims and objectives, often the ideology that binds them is their anti-Israel position.
When fighting with Israel broke out last week, there were concerns that Iran might demand these groups step up and fight alongside it, in return for the funding and training they have received from Tehran.
So far, that has not happened.
"At this stage, we are confident that we can defeat Israel independently and we can stop aggression without needing any request of help by anybody," Bahraini explained.
"I personally believe that Israel is not an entity with which somebody can negotiate. The thing we have to do is to stop aggression, and we have to show Israel that it is not able to cross the red lines against Iran."
"Israel is accustomed to committing crimes, and we think that we have stop it somewhere. We have to tell Israel that there is a red line," he concluded.
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