![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Israeli-Defense-Minister-Moshe-Yaalon-arrives-for-the-weekly-cabinet-meeting-on-Oct-20-2013.jpg\" "\\"Israeli")
<\/a>Defense Minister Moshe Ya\u2019alon on Monday issued a scathing critique of the Obama administration, declaring that Israel cannot rely on the US to thwart Iran\u2019s nuclear program, accusing the administration of broadcasting weakness throughout the world, and warning that its perceived weakness was inviting further terrorism against US targets.<\/span><\/p>\nSpeaking at a Tel Aviv University event reported by the Haaretz daily, Ya\u2019alon said Israel could not afford to rely on the Obama administration to lead an action against Iran\u2019s nuclear program, and that Israel could only rely on itself. Israel had believed that \u201cthe one who should lead the campaign against Iran is the US,\u201d but instead, \u201cthe US at a certain stage began negotiating with them, and unfortunately in the Persian bazaar the Iranians were better,\u201d he said. Therefore, \u201cwe (Israelis) have to look out for ourselves.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Ya\u2019alon\u2019s office confirmed his remarks about Iran, but refused to comment as to whether the defense minister was advocating an Israeli strike on Iran. Ya\u2019alon was widely reported to have opposed an Israeli resort to force against Iran in the past, but the Haaretz report said his comments Sunday indicated that he had changed his stance, and was now inclined to support Israeli military intervention in Iran.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n In his reported remarks Sunday, Ya\u2019alon was adamant that \u201cIran is fooling the world\u201d about its nuclear program,\u201d but said the West preferred to put off any confrontation \u2014 \u201cto next year, or the next term; but it will blow up in the end.\u201d The Iranians had been \u201con all fours\u201d because of sanctions and diplomatic isolation, but had been allowed to recover, he charged. The interim deal signed in Geneva in November \u201cis very comfortable for the Iranians,\u201d he said, enabling them to establish themselves as a threshold state \u201cand break out to the bomb when they choose to do so.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Ya\u2019alon spoke as world powers and Iran are set to start a new round of talks over Iran\u2019s contested nuclear program in Vienna. Iran denies it seeks nuclear weapons. On Sunday Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif predicted that the talks<\/a>, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, would not produce a final deal. Iran capped uranium enrichment after the six-month interim deal was struck in November, in return for easing non-core sanctions by the West.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Moving to a wider critique of the Obama administration, Ya\u2019alon reportedly stressed several times that the US was radiating weakness in every region worldwide. \u201cThe Sunni camp [in the Middle East] expected that the US would support it, and would be as determined as Russia is in its support of the Shiite axis,\u201d he was quoted as saying. \u201cI hear voices of disappointment in the region. I was in Singapore, and I heard disappointment at the strengthening of China and the weakening of the United States. Look what\u2019s happening in the Ukraine; there, to my sorrow, the US is broadcasting weakness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Ya\u2019alon, a former IDF chief of General Staff, warned that if the US continued to show weakness internationally, its own national security would be severely damaged. \u201cIf you wait at home, terror will come calling again,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is a war of civilizations. If you are perceived to be weak, that certainly does not pay in the world. I hope the US will reassert itself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n