PM: We have duty, ability to prevent annihilation

Ahead of Wannsee Conference's 70th anniversary, Netanyahu says 'difference is that now Jewish people have ability and resolve to defend themselves'

Boaz Fyler|Published: 01.22.12 , 12:51

"The Jewish people and the Israeli government have the right, duty and ability to prevent another annihilation of the Jewish people," Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet Sunday ahead of the 70 year anniversary of the Wannsee Conference and the International Holocaust Remembrance Day to be marked on Friday.

"Seventy years ago, in a lavish villa situated on the banks of a pastoral lake in one of Berlin's suburbs, 15 senior officials from the German Reich convened and decided over breakfast to annihilate the Jewish people. Seventy years ago the Jewish nation was helpless, without any political, military or diplomatic capabilities to defend itself. This is why a third of our nation was destroyed.

"What has changed from 1942 to 2012 is not the lack of enemies – because a willingness to annihilate the Jewish people and the established state exists – what's changed is our ability and resolve to defend ourselves," he said.

While Netanyahu did not address Iran directly, Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom said before the meeting that "our relations with the US are excellent because now everyone understands Iran's nuclear program is aimed at developing nuclear weapons.

"It took us a while to convince the world of this, but today the world realizes it," he said.

According to Shalom, only harsher sanctions will lead Iran to abandon its nuclear program. "The sanctions work great, but they are not enough. It is very important that the international community decide on one more thing: Sanctions against Iran's oil industry and central bank."

During a meeting last week with Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Netanyahu called for immediate steps to halt Iran's nuclear program, with a focus on Tehran's central bank and oil industry.