Netanyahu talks tough on security

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who yesterday announced plans to visit the United States in March, said turmoil in neighboring Arab states and threats from Iran show that Israel must build up its military.

"In such a region, the only thing that ensures our existence, security and prosperity is our strength," Netanyahu told his Cabinet yesterday in Jerusalem in remarks broadcast on Israel Radio. "We are obligated to continue to develop the military, economic and social strength of the state of Israel."

Israeli leaders have been warning publicly that time is running out for a military strike that could stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Friday that "there is still time and space to pursue diplomacy" with Iran.

Netanyahu will visit Washington in early March and speak at the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, according to an announcement yesterday. Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman arrives in the United States today for a series of meetings with government officials, his office said.

The Israeli prime minister clashed with President Obama during a visit to the White House last May over the issue of negotiating borders with the Palestinians. He was later given 29 standing ovations when he addressed a joint meeting of Congress.

Iran has said it won't give up its nuclear program, which it says is for civilian purposes and not for developing weapons. The country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Friday that a strike would damage U.S. interests in the Middle East "10 times over," the Associated Press reported.

Iran has been developing its conventional weapons and has started to mass produce a new, short-range, naval cruise missile, the Zafar, Tehran Times reported yesterday, citing Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi.

The Zafar is a short-range, anti-ship, radar-guided cruise missile which can be installed on various types of vessels and can hit small- and medium-size targets with high precision, Vahidi said, according to the newspaper.