International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, 3 Mar 2010

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday that there has been "significant progress" lately in getting the international community to understand the severity of the Iranian nuclear threat.

"The Iranian [arms] race train is travelling fast compared to the advancement of the international community, which is more like a stalled car," Netanyahu said. "That notwithstanding, there is significant progress in the international community’s understanding of the nature of [Iran’s] nuclear program. There is political progress toward sanctions in the world, China is interested in strengthening cooperation with Israel, and there is a wide spectrum of topics for cooperation between Beijing and Jerusalem. China is part of our efforts on Iran."

Netanyahu has been calling for "biting sanctions" against Iran’s oil and gas industry and received an important endorsement on Monday from visiting US Senator John Kerry, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and is considered to be an influential figure with the Obama administration. Kerry said that if the UN Security Council does not approve further sanctions, the US and "a number of powerful allies will move on their own."

Kerry’s visit and an upcoming stopover by US Vice President Joe Biden are also seen, however, as an effort by the US to keep tabs on Israel and ensure the Netanyahu government takes no unilateral steps to enflame the tense nuclear stand-off with Iran. After meeting with Netanyahu, Kerry noted that the two allies were "talking from the same page" and he felt Netanyahu was not "rash" when it comes to dealing with the Iranian threat.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday night that the US is working "expeditiously and thoroughly" to build an international coalition to impose a fourth round of UN sanctions on Iran over its renegade nuclear program. But she also admitted that it will probably take several more months than expected for a sanctions regime to be put in place.

Meantime, Brig.-Gen. Yossi Baidatz, head of the IDF’s Military Intelligence’s Research Division, told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee yesterday that "[Iran] has begun enriching to 20%, and when it completes that, it will have completed 90% of the process necessary for a nuclear device... [Iran] did not progress during 2009 as it planned, but still progressed beyond what we would have wanted."

In related news, US President Barak Obama has announced that he will significantly cut the American arsenal of nuclear weapons. A strategic review of US nuclear policy will be completed later this month and Obama is to host an international conference involving some 40 nations later this spring.

Critics have long argued that the US has far more nuclear weapons platforms than it needs to deter other nuclear armed nations from attacking the US and that the cost of maintaining this arsenal is a drain on other vital defense programs.

Copyright © 2010 International Christian Embassy Jerusalem