Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was forced to backtrack yesterday after he claimed discussions were taking place with Arab leaders in Poland to advance “war with Iran.”
Mr Netanyahu made the comments at the summit in Warsaw soon after a terrorist attack on the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in which 27 people were killed in the south-eastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan.
Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting, which is also being attended by US Vice-President Mike Pence, Mr Netanyahu said: “What is important about this meeting – and this meeting is not in secret, because there are many of those – is that this is an open meeting with representatives of leading Arab countries, that are sitting down together with Israel in order to advance the common interest of war with Iran.”
But the Israeli premier was forced into a climbdown after Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned: “We've always known Netanyahu’s illusions. Now, the world — and those attending the Warsaw circus — know, too.”
The remarks led to alarm in Washington with Israeli officials moving swiftly to dismiss the incident as a matter of “bad translation.”
However, US Senator Angus King, a member of the Senate’s intelligence committee, rejected the notion and said Mr Netanyahu “knew what he meant.”
An Associated Press correspondent based in Israel said that he had also heard Mr Netanyahu using the word ”milchama” – which translates literally as war.
Mr Netanyahu — who is among those gathered at the two day US-led conference on Peace and Security in the Middle East — changed the wording to “combating Iran” after pressure.
The conference is seen by Iran as a “circus” designed by the US to increase pressure on Tehran where it seeks regime change