MUNICH, Germany — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday issued a stark warning to Iran, saying his nation was prepared to go to war if the Iranians continue to test Israeli red lines in Syria.
Brandishing what he said was a fragment of an Iranian drone shot down over Israeli territory last week, Netanyahu cited Iran’s efforts to “colonize” Syria with a permanent military base and use the war-ravaged nation as a launch pad for operations in Israel.
“Israel will not allow Iran’s regime to put the noose of terror around our neck,” he said. “We will act without hesitation to defend ourselves. And we will act, if necessary, not only against Iranian proxies that are attacking us but against Iran itself.”
The warning came in a widely anticipated speech Netanyahu delivered to the Munich Security Conference, the world’s most prominent gathering of its type. The saber-rattling address was expected to be followed later Sunday with a speech by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
“Mr. Zarif, do you recognize it?” Netanyahu asked as he held the drone fragment aloft. “You should. It’s yours. You can take back with you a message to the tyrants of Tehran: Do not test Israel’s resolve.”
Citing Munich’s history as the setting for an infamous deal with Nazi Germany on the eve of World War II, Netanyahu also used the speech to bash the Iranian nuclear accord, saying it had “unleashed a dangerous Iranian tiger in our region and beyond.”
The future of the deal, which was negotiated between Iran and the world’s biggest powers during the Obama administration, has been cast into doubt by President Trump, who has said it must be revamped or should be scrapped.
Netanyahu — who is in trouble domestically as police investigators recommend corruption charges against him — called on European allies to take a tougher line against Iran, following the U.S. lead.
“Appeasement never works,” he said. “The war to prevent war is getting late — but it’s not too late.”
Former U.S. secretary of state John F. Kerry, who was instrumental in negotiating the nuclear accord, rejected Netanyahu’s criticism, calling his claim that the deal would enable Iran to develop an arsenal of nuclear weapons “just not accurate.”
“If your house is on fire, are you going to refuse to put it out because you’re concerned that it might light on fire again in 15 years?” he asked, a reference to Netanyahu’s claim that Iran would develop warheads over the coming decade or two. “Or are you going to put it out and use the intervening time to do the best you can to prevent it from ever catching fire again?”
Making clear that nervousness about the future of the Iran deal extends broadly across the nations that helped negotiate it, a senior Russian lawmaker said that he agreed with Kerry despite the many other issues that divide the Kremlin and the United States.
“The choice in Iran is between the agreement, the deal and a war,” said Alexei Pushkov, a member of the upper house of Russia’s parliament. “Okay, you bomb Iran, and then you do what? What happens next?”
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