Israeli PM: Iran nuclear program ‘has hit watershed moment’

Israel's prime minister Naftali Bennett addresses the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Monday. (AP)
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Updated 27 September 2021
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Israeli PM: Iran nuclear program ‘has hit watershed moment’

  • Naftali Bennett: Tehran ‘seeks to dominate the region under its nuclear umbrella’
  • ‘Israel won’t allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon’

WASHINGTON: Israel’s prime minister on Monday warned that “Iran’s nuclear program has hit a watershed moment, and so has our tolerance.”

Speaking at the 76th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Naftali Bennett devoted more than half his speech to warning the world about Iran’s nuclear program.

He also attacked Iran over its human rights record, its military involvement in the Arab world, and its support for groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Islamic Jihad and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“Iran seeks to dominate the region, and seeks to do so under its nuclear umbrella,” Bennett said. “Israel won’t allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon.”

He also spoke of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s role in the 1988 massacre of thousands of political activists.

Conspicuously absent from Bennett’s speech was any reference to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, though he praised the peace deals his country signed last year with the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

Bennett also showcased Israel’s achievements in combating COVID-19, saying it was one of the first countries in the world to administer vaccines to its citizens.


Egypt education minister faces trial over ignored court order

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Egypt education minister faces trial over ignored court order

  • Egyptian courts had ruled the building must be returned to its owners
  • In December, a formal warning was sent to Abdellatif but he refused to carry it out

CAIRO: Egypt’s public prosecutors on Wednesday ordered the education minister to stand trial over accusations he failed to follow a court ruling, a lawyer on the case told AFP.
The case dates back to 2013, more than a decade before Mohamed Abdellatif was appointed minister, and involves a school in the Upper Egyptian city of Minya that the education ministry had been renting, said Amr Abdel Salam, a lawyer representing the school’s owners.
He said Egyptian courts had ruled the building must be returned to its owners, but successive governments allegedly kept delaying execution of the order.
In December, a formal warning was sent to Abdellatif but he refused to carry it out, the lawyer said.
“This forced the school owners to take legal action against him,” he added.
If found guilty, the minister could be jailed, removed from office and ordered to pay one million Egyptian pounds ($21,000) in compensation, Abdel Salam said.
The minister’s trial is set to begin on May 13 with a first hearing.
The ministry has not yet commented on the case.