Haaretz
Shvat 2,5767
Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu
on Sunday passionately called on the world to stop Iran's nuclear
ambitions in its tracks by imposing sanctions on the Tehran
regime.
"I want to call on the world that didn't stop the Holocaust
last time to stop any attempt this time and what needs to be done is
divest genocide," he said in an address to the Herzliya conference, a
yearly get-together of Israel's political and security elite.
Iran
says its nuclear program is aimed only at producing energy, but it is
widely believed by the West to be developing nuclear weapons.
The
Likud Party Chairman said "voluntary sanctions" could be initiated even
before the UN imposes official measures against Iran.
"The moment
the snowball of voluntary sanctions begins, the pressure on Iran will be
immense," he added.
Netanyahu has been the leading voice in Israel
for taking an aggressive stance against Iran, often comparing the current
era of world silence toward Iran to that toward pre-World War II Nazi
Germany.
On Sunday, Netanyahu said Israel could not afford to take
a back seat in the attempt to isolate Iran.
"When we are talking
about rallying public opinion on genocide, who will lead the charge if not
us?" he said. "No one will come defend the Jews if they no not defend
themselves. This is the lesson of history."