WASHINGTON: Israel on Monday said the Wikileaks memos show that their neighboring Arab countries agree that Iran is a major threat in the Middle East. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the documents provide “clear proof” that Arabs agree with Israel over Iran as a danger to the region. The Wikileaks documents, published online on Sunday, show King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia calling on the United States to attack Iran in order to destroy its nuclear program. The documents also show other Arab leaders voicing their concerns and demands for tough action against the Iranian government. Netanyahu said Israel now has proof that they are not alone in their calls for an end to Iran's nuclear program. “The greatest threat to world peace stems from the arming of the regime in Iran. More and more states, governments and leaders in the Middle East and in far reaches of the world understand this is a fundamental threat,” Netanyahu said at a news conference. He proposed a unified front with other Arab countries against Iran would bring about a “breakthrough” in peace to the region. Israel has long considered Iran the top danger in the Middle East, citing its development of medium-range missiles capable of striking Israel, its support for militant groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, and most critically, its suspect nuclear program. The West, and many Arab countries, believe Iran is developing nuclear weapons. Tehran denies that. An April 2008 memo detailed a meeting between General David Petraeus, the top US military commander in the Middle East, and then US ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, and King Abdullah and other Saudi princes. At the meeting, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Adel al-Jubeir “recalled the king's frequent exhortations to the U.S. to attack Iran and so put an end to its nuclear weapons program,” the cable said. “He told you to cut off the head of the snake,” al-Jubeir was reported to have said. The documents also said officials in Jordan and Bahrain have openly called for Iran's nuclear program to be stopped by any means and that leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt referred to Iran “as `evil,' an `existential threat' and a power that `is going to take us to war.'” Although the concerns of Gulf Arab states about Iran are known, the leaders of these conservative countries rarely offer such stark appraisals in public. Netanyahu said it's clear that other countries in the region share Israel's assessment about Iran, “even if what they say in public is not what they always so in private.” If “leaders will say in public what they say in private there might be a breakthrough,” he added. “Leaders should be ready to tell their people the truth.” BM
