Netanyahu, Bolton Adamant in Stopping Iranian Support to ‘Hezbollah’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) shakes hands with visiting US national security adviser John Bolton during a press conference at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem on August 20, 2018. AFP PHOTO/Sebastian Scheiner
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) shakes hands with visiting US national security adviser John Bolton during a press conference at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem on August 20, 2018. AFP PHOTO/Sebastian Scheiner
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Netanyahu, Bolton Adamant in Stopping Iranian Support to ‘Hezbollah’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) shakes hands with visiting US national security adviser John Bolton during a press conference at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem on August 20, 2018. AFP PHOTO/Sebastian Scheiner
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) shakes hands with visiting US national security adviser John Bolton during a press conference at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem on August 20, 2018. AFP PHOTO/Sebastian Scheiner

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump’s National Security Adviser John Bolton met in Jerusalem on Monday, reiterating their demand for Iran to halt its support to Lebanon’s ‘Hezbollah’.

A reliable source in Tel Aviv said that Netanyahu and Bolton discussed extensively how Iranian forces and their affiliated militias should be evacuated from Syria and how ‘Hezbollah’ should be returned to Lebanon.

“By removing the sanctions (the nuclear deal) enabled Iran to bring in billions and billions of dollars to its coffers which only fueled Iran’s war machine in Syria, and to support terrorist groups,” said Netanyahu.

He expressed gratitude to the US president for his decision to pull out from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, and to impose sanctions on the country.

Netanyahu went on to describe Trump's decision to pull out of the “terrible” Iran deal and move the US Embassy to Jerusalem as "momentous."

Bolton noted his “privilege and honor to be here in Jerusalem, Israel’s capital.”

Netanyahu responded: “Israel believes it has no greater friend and ally than the United States. And I believe that the United States has no greater friend and ally than Israel.”

“It’s a question of the highest importance for the United States that Iran never gets a deliverable nuclear weapons capability. It’s why President Trump withdrew from the wretched Iran nuclear deal. It’s why we’ve worked with our friends in Europe to convince them of the need to take stronger steps against the Iranian nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program,” said Bolton.

He met on Monday a number of security officers and politicians.

Bolton will resume his meetings on Tuesday by holding talks with Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, head of the National Security Council Meir Ben Shabat, Mossad chief Yossi Cohen and Chief of General Staff of the Israeli Army Gadi Eizenkot.



S. Korean Prosecutors Say Yoon Authorized ‘Shooting’ during Martial Law Bid

A TV screen shows a file image of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, being broadcast at the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP)
A TV screen shows a file image of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, being broadcast at the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP)
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S. Korean Prosecutors Say Yoon Authorized ‘Shooting’ during Martial Law Bid

A TV screen shows a file image of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, being broadcast at the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP)
A TV screen shows a file image of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, being broadcast at the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP)

South Korea's suspended president Yoon Suk Yeol authorized the military to fire their weapons if needed to enter parliament during his failed bid to impose martial law, according to a prosecutors' report seen by AFP on Saturday.

The 10-page summary from former defense minister Kim Yong-hyun's prosecution indictment report, which was provided to the media, also says Yoon vowed on December 3 to declare martial law three times if necessary.

Yoon, who was stripped of his duties by the National Assembly this month, is under investigation for his short-lived attempt to scrap civilian rule, which plunged the country into political turmoil and led to his impeachment.

Yoon's lawyer Yoon Kab-keun dismissed the prosecutors' report, telling AFP it was "a one-sided account that neither corresponds to objective circumstances nor common sense".

As lawmakers rushed to parliament on December 3 to vote down Yoon's martial law declaration, heavily armed troops stormed the building, scaling fences, smashing windows and landing by helicopter.

According to the prosecution indictment report, Yoon told the chief of the capital defense command, Lee Jin-woo, that military forces could shoot if necessary to enter the National Assembly.

"Have you still not got in? What are you doing? Break down the door and drag them out, even if it means shooting," Yoon told Lee, according to the report.

Yoon also allegedly told the head of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, General Kwak Jong-keun, to "quickly get inside" the National Assembly since the quorum for the martial law declaration to be lifted had not been met.

"So quickly get inside the National Assembly and bring out the people inside the chamber, and break down the doors with an axe if necessary and drag everyone out," the report quotes Yoon as saying at the time.

After lawmakers rushed inside parliament and voted 190-0 to nullify Yoon's declaration in the early hours of December 4, the report says Yoon told Lee, "Even if it's lifted, I can declare martial law a second or third time, so just keep going."

The report also included screenshots of senior defense officials' messages from the day of the martial law declaration.

It said there was evidence that Yoon had been discussing declaring martial law with senior military officials as early as March.

The declaration followed a budget tussle between Yoon's party and the opposition.

Days later, Yoon said in a speech that he apologized for the "anxiety and inconvenience" and promised that there would not be a second declaration of martial law.

Ex-defense minister Kim was arrested this month over his role in the failed martial law bid.

Opposition Democratic Party lawmaker Kang Sun-woo said in a statement on Saturday that "the prosecution has laid bare the undeniable ugly truth about Yoon Suk Yeol, the treasonous ringleader", adding that he must be "arrested immediately".

South Korea's Constitutional Court held its first preliminary hearing on the validity of Yoon's impeachment on Friday, with the suspended president's legal team attending.

The court will also decide the fate of Yoon's replacement, Han Duck-soo, who was impeached Friday over his refusal to complete Yoon's impeachment process and bring him to justice.