Diplomat says Israel will defend itself

ISRAELI Ambassador to Caracas Arie Tenne, who is in Trinidad for the inauguration of President Max Richards, yesterday said Israel is more prepared for war than any other nation and that they would not be caught unawares as they were during the Gulf War in 1991.

As to whether Israel supported or condemned a war against Iraq, Tenne replied: “It is not our war and we are not involved in it,” adding however that Israel “supported the international community to disarm Saddam Hussein.” He also said Israel’s position was the same as everybody else’s, as he questioned what the world wanted from Saddam Hussien. Tenne was expressing his country’s views at a press briefing at the Hilton on the likelihood of war between the US and Iraq. He said it was not only the US, UK and Spain that wanted Saddam disarmed but also the French and the Russians and the Arabs. “We want the same thing, as we realise he is a threat to everybody,” he stated. Tenne revealed that every man, woman and child in Israel now possessed a gas mask and in addition to Defence arrangements there were public shelters and homes.

He said every apartment now contained a sealed room where people could be safe in the event of chemical and biological weapons. “We know what we can expect, unfortunately, from Saddam Hussein.” Tenne said that despite their non-involvement in the Gulf War, they were one of the first nations to be attacked by Saddam Hussien. “We are not involved now in any way, neither on the diplomatic nor the military front, we are out of it” said Tenne. However, he added “We expect that if Saddam Hussein can attack us he will, just as he did in 1991.” Listing Hussien’s championing of the Palestinian cause as one reason he might attack Israel, Tenne said they were in no doubt that he would attack once he possessed weapons of mass destruction. Referring to Saddam’s claim that he would counter-attack all over the world if Iraq was attacked, Tenne questioned what exactly this meant. “We know we are always on his list of favourite targets,” Tenne claimed.

Questioned as to whether Israel thought Saddam should be given more time to comply with the UN’s orders for disarming nuclear weapons, Tenne once again said it was not Israel’s call to make. Does Israel support the UN or the US? “We have not taken a stand on that” Tenne emphatically stated. He revealed that Israel had decided not to be part of the Security Council, the Diplomatic efforts, or the Military efforts as they had no wish to be deliberately involved in what he again termed was “not our war.” He reiterated that Saddam Hussein was “one of the most reckless and most ruthless despots in history.”

Tenne acknowledged that the crux of the issue was whether or not Hussein had destroyed the weapons of mass destruction he possessed, as he (Saddam) could continue to discover weapons when the pressure was on from the UN, for the next 50 years. Does he believe that this could be the beginning of World War III? “I don’t know, to have a world war, you have to have enemies” stated Tenne, and questioned who would be fighting whom. He added that one had to be sure of the parties involved. Regarding diplomatic relations between TT and the US at this point, he stated that they were “very good” and that they had always seen “eye to eye with the US.” Tenne said he last spoke to Minister of Tertiary Education Danny Montano, who believed that education might be a common ground, as well as the agriculture, and oil and gas industries.