Former top aide challenges Netanyahu's UN speech

Prof. Uzi Arad, former National Security Advisor says PM both alienates allies, places heavy security burden on State

Yoav Zitun|Published: 10.06.13 , 10:28

Prof. Uzi Arad fiercely criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, following the latter's address to the UN General Assembly in which he claimed that Israel could act against Iran and its nuclear threat, even on its own.

During a conference about Israel's current security perception held at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Arad said: "Every time a hostile entity grows, we're expected to prevent it in advance? It is a very heavy burden on the State's security."

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Arad, the former National Security Council head, focused his remarks on the possibility that Israel would stand alone against Iran in light of recent talks between the Islamic Republic and the US. "The prime minister says that even if we're alone, we'll act (against Iran). On the one hand, he suggests we (might) not have allies, and this is supposedly proof of our future failure to sustain a line of allies. On the other hand, it puts a huge burden on us."

The former top aide further added: "You should not position yourself against one enemy."

Arad compared the current situation to the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War. "Israel is burdening itself in a manner that has not been done since 1973. It is a security burden that becomes growingly heavier."

Arad was forced to resign from his roll at the NSC after it was claimed that he leaked sensitive information from the Prime Minister's Office.

This is not the first time he has criticized Netanyahu. In a March 2012 interview with Yedioth Ahronoth, Arad discussed his relationship with his former employer: "In all the years in which Netanyahu was at rock bottom, I was loyal. Olmert offered me to work with him; I told him I was with Netanyahu. I greatly value Netanyahu's virtues, but I'm no yes-man, no sycophant. When I think he's wrong, I fight. He interprets it as disloyalty."

In regards to Sara Netanyahu, Arad said: "Sara snapped at me and said I was a snitch." The prime minister responded to Arad's remarks the following day and said: "One doesn't judge a person in his time of grief."

In one of his most important addresses to the UN General Assembly last Tuesday, Netanyahu tried to expose Iranian President Hassan Rohani's true face, and sent a clear message to Tehran and the US: "If forced – we will act alone against the Ayatollah regime."

Netanyahu tried to convince the world it must not be tempted by Iran's conciliatory remarks regarding the nuclear program, and beware of an Iranian deceit aimed at buying time: "Rohani does not sound like Ahmadinejad, but when it comes to Iran's nuclear program, the only difference between them is this – Ahmadinejad was a wolf in wolf's clothing, Rohani is a wolf in sheep's clothing."

After his speech, Netanyahu embarked on a media blitz in the US against the Iranian "charm offensive". "(The Iranian people) are governed not by (President Hassan) Rohani. They're governed by Ayatollah Khamenei. He heads a cult," Netanyahu declared in an interview with NBC.