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Israel displays seized weapons, Netanyahu warns against Iranian deception
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accompanied by Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon yesterday displayed to the media the cache of weapons on board a ship seized by Israeli naval forces last week, which they explained was sent by Iran and destined for Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu and Ya’alon inspected a total of 40 long-range M-302 rockets, 181 mortar shells and around 400,000 bullets. A number of documents demonstrating Iranian involvement in the shipment were also displayed. Netanyahu then addressed approximately 70 foreign journalists, military attaches from foreign embassies and Israeli media who had been invited to the event. He said that “The goal was to have rained down [the captured weapons] on the heads of Israel’s citizens,” and warned that although, “This time there were long-range missiles in these containers … In the containers in the future, Iran can arm nuclear suitcases that it can send to every port in the world.”
Turning his attention to the international response and global relations with Iran, Netanyahu noted, “I heard only isolated and weak condemnation of Iran from the international community regarding this deadly shipment.” He said that the world must not be deceived by “the illusion that Iran has changed direction” as the captured weapons “prove the exact opposite.” Iran, he said, “has not abandoned its deep involvement in terrorism, its systematic efforts to undermine peace and security throughout the Middle East.” Netanyahu contrasted the muted global reaction to the weapons seizure with vocal international condemnation of Israeli construction in the West Bank. He summarised by saying, “My message today is simple: those engaged in self-deception must waken from their slumber, we cannot allow Iran to continue building nuclear weapons.”
Defence Minister Ya’alon echoed similar sentiments, saying that the shipment showed “the real face of the Iranian regime,” providing “another example of the fact that the Iranian regime is actually the largest terror exporter in the world.”