Israeli leaders condemn Iran deal

Israeli leaders across the political spectrum condemned in stark apocalyptic language the Iranian nuclear pact announced by the United States and world powers Tuesday, calling it a historic mistake that frees Iran to sponsor global terrorism while assembling the expertise to build a nuclear bomb, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

“Iran is going to receive a sure path to nuclear weapons,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “Many of the restrictions that were supposed to prevent it from getting there will be lifted.”

With the removal of economic sanctions, Netanyahu warned, “Iran will get a jackpot, a cash bonanza of hundreds of billions of dollars, which will enable it to continue to pursue its aggression and terror.”

Netanyahu’s hard-line coalition partner, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, added: “Today a terrorist nuclear superpower is born, and it will go down as one of the darkest days in world history.”

Netanyahu’s fellow Likud member, Science Minister Danny Danon, said the Iran pact “is like providing a pyromaniac with matches.”

The condemnations are not new. Netanyahu has led a tireless campaign against the prospects of a deal, including an address before the U.S. Congress in March to hammer home Israel’s worries over Iran — whose leaders often have called for the annihilation of the Jewish state.

The rifts with Washington over the Iran talks have led to rare open tensions between the allies.

Hours after the deal was reached in Vienna, Secretary of State John F. Kerry told NBC that he thought Netanyahu was wrong and that the prime minister had been “making comments that are way over the top.”

Kerry said “Israel is safer” as a result of the nuclear accord.