Israel’s UN envoy slams Iran, Hezbollah in Security Council meeting

Prosor calls for international action to stop Tehran’s nuclear drive ‘before it’s too late’

By Ilan Ben Zion 15 October 2012, 7:58 pm

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Ilan Ben Zion is an AFP reporter and a former news editor at The Times of Israel.

Israel's ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor (photo credit: Courtesy)

Israel’s ambassador to the UN called on the Security Council to take action to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran and criticized Tehran’s support for its proxy, Hezbollah.

“With every day that passes, the enriched uranium in Iran piles higher and higher,” Ambassador Ron Prosor said during the Security Council’s monthly debate on the Middle East, on Monday. He called a nuclear-armed Iran “the Mullahs’ greatest dream and the world’s worst nightmare,” and urged the council that “The world must stop Iran before it is too late.”

Prosor lambasted Iran for providing Hezbollah “with the funds, training and advanced weapons to hijack the Lebanese state and transform it into an outpost for terror.”

“Hezbollah’s continued provocations could have devastating consequences for the region,” Prosor warned.

“One does not need any further evidence that Hezbollah is a direct proxy of the Iranian regime,” Prosor said, referring to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s admission that the spy drone shot down over Israel was provided by Tehran.

The 15-member Security Council has the power to levy international sanctions, but attempts to pass such measures against Iran have been stymied by veto-wielding permanent members Russia and China.

Discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman told the Security Council that the two-state solution was at risk.

“Stated intentions to adhere to a two-state solution are not translating into meaningful steps to renewed dialogue on the core issues to be resolved,” he said.

Advocating a negotiated two-state solution, Prosor remarked that “every Member State that lends its hand to supporting Palestinian unilateralism at the UN will be responsible for the grave consequences that follow.”

“You will be encouraging the Palestinian leadership to intoxicate its people with fantasy when it needs to sober them up with reality – inflating a dangerous bubble that will inevitably burst,” Prosor told the Security Council.

He also took the opportunity to criticize the Palestinian Authority’s allocation of 6 percent of its budget — in large part financed by foreign aid — to “terrorist salaries.”

Prosor called on those “truly committed to the security of Israel and the Middle East to act tangibly, speak out publicly, and show us concretely.

“How many taxpayers in London, Paris, Berlin and Lisbon know that some of their money is going to convicted terrorists with blood on their hands?” he asked.