Israel Won't Allow Iran Power to Carry Out Threats

Israel will never allow Iran to acquire the power to wipe out the Jewish state, Ehud Olmert said.

JTA GLOBAL NEWS

“When we hear a dictator say that he is prepared to wipe out the Jewish people, we don’t take it lightly,” the Israeli prime minister said in a videolink address Tuesday to the Anti-Defamation League’s leadership conference in Washington.

“We are capable and I promise we’ll do everything in our power to make sure that no one, including those who are saying it these days, will ever have the power to carry out these statements.”

The U.N. nuclear watchdog has reported that Iran probably has a nuclear weapons program, despite its denials.

Olmert called President Bush an ally of Israel, especially in isolating the terrorist group Hamas after it won Palestinian Authority elections in January.

“I know you have political controversies across America with different factions, but from the point of view of Israel, he is formidable,” Olmert said of Bush. “He has set the tone for Hamas as far as the international community is concerned.”