“Israel views with utmost gravity the picture of the situation reflected in the [International Atomic Energy Agency] report, which proves that Iran is continuing to lie to the world and advance a program to develop nuclear weapons while denying its international commitments,” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Friday.

“I call for an appropriate and rapid international reaction to the severe actions of Iran. The IAEA report warns that the time to act is now,” he stressed.

Bennett also focused attention on the failed expectations that Iran would change its plans through negotiation. “The naive expectation that Iran will be prepared to change its path via negotiations has been proven to be baseless,” Bennett noted.

“Only a vigorous stand by the international community, backed up by decisions and actions, will be able to lead to a change by the regime in Tehran, which has lost all restraint. Israel will do everything to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons,” Bennett vowed.

The PM said his White House visit had achieved all its goals – and more. “We have agreed with the Americans on a joint working strategy to block the Iranian race for nuclear weapons.” He added that “a significant step” was also made in equipping and building the IDF.

Now Bennet appears to be expanding Israel’s reach for opposition to Iran’s nuclear development to the international community in an effort to garner stronger support. On Thursday, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid again argued that Iran’s nuclear development threatens the entire world, this time in a Moscow meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov.

“Iran’s march toward a nuclear weapon is not only an Israeli problem, it’s a problem for the entire world,” Lapid told the Russian foreign minister. “The world needs to stop Iran from getting a nuclear capability, no matter the price. If the world doesn’t do it, Israel reserves the right to act,” Lapid declared.  

“Unfortunately, there won’t be stability in Syria, or in the wider Middle East, while there is an Iranian presence. Iran is the world’s No. 1 exporter of terrorism,” he added.

Israel’s leaders continue to warn of a new sense of urgency regarding Iran’s nuclear threat, as its Islamist extremist government approaches 60 percent uranium enrichment.  After the world failed in its first attempt to negotiate an end to Tehran’s nuclear threat by the now defunct 2005 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the so-called “nuclear deal,” it must not miss a second chance to neutralize Iran’s continuing threat to world peace.