Israel sees Iranian ships Canal passage with gravity: Netanyahu

Feb 20, 2011, 10:24 GMT

Jerusalem - The reported passage of two Iranian ships through the Suez Canal was an attempt by Tehran to increase its sway in the Middle East, and Israel views the move with gravity, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday.

'I think today we can see in this unstable region in which we live, a region in which Iran is trying to exploit the situation which has arisen, and widen its influence by sending two warships through the Suez Canal,' he told ministers at the start of Sunday's cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

Iranian television reported Sunday that the two ships have already passed through the canal on their way to the Mediterranean.

It marks the first time since the fall of the Shah and the establishment of the Islamic republic in 1979 that Iranian warships have sailed through the waterway.

'Israel views this Iranian move with gravity, and this move, along with other moves and developments, reinforces what I've been saying in recent years - that Israel's defence needs will increase and the defence budget will grow accordingly,' Netanyahu said.

Israel views Iran as its biggest existential threat, because of Tehran's nuclear programme and support - financial and political - for Islamist groups which deny Israel's right to exist, and because of repeated statements by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that the Jewish state would be wiped off the map.

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