Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz warned on Sunday that at present, global security remains critical not just in the Middle Easter but around the world. He discussed the subject matter at the Munich Security Conference, held from Feb. 18 to Feb. 20.
Appearing to allude to tensions in Europe, Gantz said that “as a former chief of Israel’s defense forces, I know that in war, the winner gets to lose as well. In peace, we are all winners.”
He focused most of his comments on the threats posed by Iran, especially if it is able to produce a nuclear weapon.
Gantz was alluding to the current talks in Vienna about an impending re-entering of a nuclear deal made in 2015, but that the United States withdrew from in 2018, stating: “A nuclear deal, if signed with Iran, does not mark the end of the road. Action must be taken to ensure that Iran does not continue to enrich in additional facilities, and oversight must be increased. It is essential that the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] continues to investigate and monitor the open files.”
The defense minister also noted that it is essential that advanced Iranian centrifuges are “not found in other facilities” and that the “development of ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads must be stopped.”
Referring to the would-be nuclear agreement’s sunset clauses, which begin to expire beginning in 2025, Gantz said that “it is critical that the sunset clause is not understood as an expiration date that enables Iran to revisit its nuclear ambitions. All steps must be taken to ensure that Iran never becomes a nuclear-threshold state. The world must never come to terms with it, and Israel will never come to terms with it.”
