NATO’s secretary-general told German magazine, Der Spiegel, Saturday that the alliance wouldn’t come to Israel’s defense in case of attack by Iran.
Jens Stoltenberg said that if Israel is attacked by Iran, the Western military alliance – including the United States and Germany – will not defend Israel.
Will you offer us a hand? Every gift, regardless of size, fuels our future.
Your critical contribution enables us to maintain our independence from shareholders or wealthy owners, allowing us to keep up reporting without bias. It means we can continue to make Jewish Business News available to everyone.
You can support us for as little as $1 via PayPal at office@jewishbusinessnews.com.
Thank you.
Stoltenberg said Israel is a partner, but not one of the 28 nation members and that NATO’s “security guarantee” doesn’t apply to the Jewish state.
“The guarantee of mutual protection in Article 5 of the NATO Charter does not apply to Israel: NATO was neither involved nor involved in the Middle East peace process nor was it involved in regional conflicts. This is not our country,” he said.
It should be noted that NATO’s mutual defense clause was not applied even when Turkey, the member of the Alliance, was attacked by hostile elements from Syrian territory.
It was first activated in 2001 after al-Qaeda’s terrorist attacks in the United States.
Stoltenberg doubts whether it will be possible to preserve the Iran nuclear deal under conditions created after the US withdrawal from the agreement.
“The agreement still exists,” says the NATO secretary-general, “but the question is whether without the US it can continue to be implemented. The impact of the American sanctions on European companies will, in any case, be great. ”
A number of large companies and banks in European countries have announced in the last two weeks that they will cease their activities in Iran, despite the European Union’s intention to implement procedures that prohibit European companies from succumbing to US sanctions.
NATO Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon acknowledged that there are differences of opinion on the effectiveness of the nuclear agreement with Iran, but there is a common concern over the Iranian missile program and “Iranian activities contributing to instability in the Middle East, for example supporting terrorist groups.”
Meanwhile, it was reported from Washington that the Pentagon was considering placing the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system in Germany, in addition to the defense systems deployed in Romania and Poland, in view of the growing threat from Iran.
In Berlin, fear is that the US missile defense system will be interpreted as a provocation in Russia and will force Russia to respond.
