Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met Thursday with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on her first official visit to Israel.
According to the Prime Minister's Office, the two discussed regional security challenges, the Iranian threat, as well as the ongoing negotiations between the Islamic Republic and world powers meant to revive the 2015 nuclear accord.
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Prime Minister Naftali Bennett with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock
(Photo: GPO)
Bennett expressed Israel's view that returning to the 2015 nuclear deal would be a mistake and a threat to the Mideast. He said prolonging the talks while the Iranians continue to enrich uranium, serves Tehran's agenda.
Baerbock, on her part, said in a press conference with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid that nuclear talks with Iran are entering a "final phase" and that, despite Israeli reservations, a return to a nuclear agreement would make the region safer.
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Members of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal attending a meeting at the Grand Hotel of Vienna as they try to restore the pact, April 17, 2021
(Photo: AFP)
The German diplomat added she was "convinced that a full restoration of the [accord] would make the region more secure, including Israel, otherwise we would not be having these talks."
She said the talks with Iran, of which Germany is a party, have reached a "very critical point" and that it was important for Iran to come back to the table "with a willingness to compromise and without maximum demands."
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German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (L) and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, February 10, 2022
(Photo: GPO)
"We want to do everything we can to ensure that with this agreement, Israel's security is guaranteed," Baerbock said.
Lapid said that he and Baerbock discussed the nuclear talks and presented her with Israel's position "that a nuclear Iran endangers not only Israel, but the entire world."
He said that Iran is "an exporter of terror from Yemen to Buenos Aires" and that the agreement must take into account its regional aggression.