Israel is a “threat”, according to the Lebanese prime minister, who looks to Damascus for a new balance of power in the region. He is in favour of a Middle East without nuclear weapons, which includes Israel, not only Iran. For Turkey’s Prime Minister Israel is the “main threat to peace”.

Beirut (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is “much more explosive” than the Iranian nuclear crisis, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri told the Spanish newspaper El Mundo Wednesday during an official visit to Spain. His words echo similar remarks made by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who described Israel as the "main threat to peace" in the Middle East.

The Middle East conflict “is much more explosive, brimming over with ‘uranium and extremism’, than any other regional issue,” Hariri said. Lebanon, he added was in favour of a “Middle East without nuclear weapons”, which he said “includes Israel” and not only Iran.

Israel has never publicly acknowledged it has nuclear weapons and has maintained a policy of deliberate ambiguity since it inaugurated its Dimona nuclear reactor in the Negev desert in 1965.

Turkey's Prime Minister has also not minced words about Israel. He described Israel as the "main threat to peace" in the Middle East.

Erdogan said that Israel used “disproportionate force, in Palestine, in Gaza,” using phosphorus bombs against civilians.

For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded by saying he regretted Turkey's "repeated attacks" on Israel.

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• east
• israel
• palestine
• lebanon
• iran
• turkey
• peace
• war
• nuclear
• atomic
• islam