Al-Qaeda takes over Mosul, Iraq
Photo: Reuters
Israel lobbies powers to stay tough on Iran amid Iraq crisis
Israeli works to fight growing 'arc' of Iranian influence in promoting 'global Jihad' from Iraq to Lebanon and Syria.
Israel is lobbying world powers not to ease their pressure on Iran to curb its disputed nuclear program should Tehran cooperate with the West in beating back Sunni Muslim insurgencies that have spiraled from Syria into Iraq.
A lightning advance has seen Sunni fighters rout the army of Iraq's Shiite-led government and seize the main cities across the north since last week, prompting Iran, the Middle East's main Shiite power, to state that it is prepared to intervene to defend Shiite holy sites in Iraq.
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While echoing global jitters at the Iraqi bloodshed, Israelis are alarmed by Washington's willingness to cooperate with its old adversary Iran in securing the Arab state.
ISIS take over Mosul, Iraq (Photo: Reuters)
Israel fears what it says is a growing "arc" of Iranian influence from Iraq to Syria, where Tehran backs embattled President Bashar Assad, on to Lebanon, where it has a powerful proxy in the Hezbollah terrorist group.
"We are working to prevent a situation in which, in light of the increasing danger of Global Jihad elements, Iran and its allies are portrayed as blocking the spread of such elements in the area," told the Knesset on Wednesday.
"The threat Iran and Hezbollah pose to stability, to Israel's security and to other moderate players in the region must not be forgotten, so it is a two-fold battle," Landau said.
Israeli cabinet minister Uzi Landau (Photo: Dana Koppel)
Israel's Foreign Ministry would "intensify contact with the international and regional powers" on the matter, he added.
"Global Jihad" is an Israeli term for al Qaeda and other radical Sunni groups. They are eclipsed in Israel's threat assessments by the prospect of its arch-foe Iran gaining the means to make nuclear weapons.
A senior US official said on Monday the United States may discuss the security crisis in Iraq with Iran on the sidelines of this week's nuclear talks in Vienna.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (Photo: AFP)
Iran, which denies seeking nuclear bombs and points to Israel's assumed atomic arsenal as the real menace, is negotiating with world powers about rolling back its nuclear program in exchange for an easing of their sanctions.
Those talks look unlikely to bring an accord by the July 20 deadline, however, given enduring disputes over the scale of uranium enrichment and other projects Iran would be allowed to retain.
Yuval Steinitz, the Israeli cabinet minister who liaises with the United States and European powers about the nuclear diplomacy, said they had assured him they would hold course in the negotiations regardless of any Iranian cooperation in Iraq.
