By Julie Stahl
CNSNews.com Jerusalem Bureau Chief
Herzliya, Israel (CNSNews.com) - Europe has not yet grasped the "magnitude" of the Iranian nuclear threat, an Israeli lawmaker said following comments made by European diplomats about the long process of imposing sanctions on Iran.
The European Union called last week for an urgent meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency to press the case for sending the issue of Iranian nuclear development to the United Nations Security Council.
The U.S. and Israel have been pressing for a referral of Iran to the Security Council for more than year. The West suspects Iran of using its civilian nuclear program as a cover-up for developing atomic weapons. Iran claims its nuclear aspirations are purely peaceful.
But Israeli lawmaker Dr. Ephraim Sneh said that Europe does not yet understand that the time to act is now.
"I'm afraid they don't yet understand the magnitude of the Iranian threat," said Sneh, a reserve brigadier-general who is part of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
They are still using the "language of the past," Sneh told Cybercast News Service. "There is no sense of urgency. I don't feel they understand the urgent need for action. The time of talking is over."
Sneh's comments came after European experts explained Europe's position on Iran at the annual Herzliya Conference on "The Balance of Israel's National Security" in Herzliya near Tel Aviv on Sunday
Long haul
Philippe Errera, deputy director of the Center for Analysis and Forecast at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the process of dealing of Iran would be difficult and slow. It is only the beginning of a "long confrontation," Errera said.
The EU-3 -- Britain, France and Germany -- declared two weeks ago that the process of negotiating with Iran, which they had begun in 2003, was finished.
The EU-3 had hoped to persuade Iran through negotiations to abandon its pursuit of uranium enrichment -- a process that could produce material for a nuclear bomb. But the EU-3 said there would be no more talking after Iran broke the U.N.-placed seals on nuclear facilities and announced it was resuming "research" into uranium enrichment two weeks ago.
Some experts had argued that the EU wasted precious time in stopping Iran's nuclear development by allowing Iran to continue covert activities without fear of repercussions during the talks.
But Errera said before judging that the EU's mission had been a failure, one should consider that the negotiating process did delay Iran's nuclear development by causing the Iranians to suspend their activities for two years.
There is also a clearer and more comprehensive view of the Iranian nuclear program now, and there has been an opportunity to broaden and strengthen the coalition against Iran, he added.
The Security Council must now become involved in order to strengthen the IAEA's authority, he said.
Sanctions
Michael Quinlan, senior consulting fellow on South Asia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and guest lecturer for the Department of War Studies at Kings College London, ruled out military force against Iran as an option to stop the radical regime. And he said in order to have a long-term effect, there needed to be regime change in Iran.
In the case of imposing economic and political sanctions, they have to be carefully designed, said Quinlan, who has held senior positions in the British defense establishment and NATO.
The first level of sanctions could include measures such as a boycott of Iranian students, athletes and cultural exchanges, as well as trade embargoes, said Quinlan. But he admitted that Iran was not likely to bow to such pressures.
The second level would need to be much more severe, including economic sanctions that would also be hard on countries with which Iran has trade relations, said Quinlan.
At this level, the West might have to agree not to use force to try to change the Iranian regime and not to support those who would attempt to do so as part of a deal. A necessary element in a long-term bargain would be to ensure Iranian compliance through agreements, he said.
Aggressive action
But Sneh said aggressive action is needed now. The West needs to impose sanctions and start encouraging the Iranian opposition, giving them signs that if they topple the Iranian regime, the West would support them, said Sneh.
Practically speaking, the State Department and the European Union could remove the Iranian opposition from their lists of terrorist organizations because they have not carried out attacks for years, he suggested.
Sneh did not rule out military action.
Another Knesset member, Aryeh Eldad, said that the West must not continue to delay taking action against Iran.
It would be better if the U.S. and Europe took action rather than Israel because a Western intervention would be "localized," while an Israeli intervention could drag the region into war, he said.
Israel bombed the Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981 shortly before it was to become operational. Although the action was condemned worldwide at the time, the U.S. and its allies expressed their thanks for the move a decade later.
Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said that Israel would not accept "Iran's nuclear armament." Speaking at the Herzliya conference on Saturday evening, Mofaz said that Israel must be ready to defend itself.
Herzliya conference
The annual Herzliya conference, organized by the Institute for Policy and Strategy (IPS) at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, is an international forum of top Israeli decision makers and international experts, organizers said.
This will be the first year since the conference was started six years ago that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is not speaking at the forum, said Uzi Arad, founding head of the IPS.
Sharon first hinted publicly at his "unilateral disengagement policy" in a speech at the conference in 2003, said Arad, who served in senior positions in Israel's Mossad. The outworking of that policy was the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements last summer.
