On Wednesday November 13th, Dr. Yuval Steinitz, Minister of International Affairs, Strategy and Intelligence, spoke to Press Club members leading up to talks on Iran in Geneva.
Iran is the focus of many articles around the world as talks heat up leading to Geneva. Dr. Yuval Steinitz gave a briefing detailing Israel’s position on the proposed talks, and the sanctions relief package that goes along with them. Reuters attended the event reporting:
Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz said Israel believed the sanctions put in place by the United States and European Union last year cost Iran’s economy around $100 billion per year, or nearly a quarter of its output.
“The sanctions relief directly will reduce between 15 to 20 billion dollars out of this amount,” Steinitz said on Wednesday at an English-language event hosted by the Jerusalem Press Club.
He said that the proposed changes would also make it more difficult to enforce other sanctions, providing a total benefit to Tehran of up to $40 billion:
“The damage to the overall sanctions, we believe, will be something between $20 billion and maybe up to $40 billion,” he said.“This is very significant. It’s not all the sanctions. It’s not the core sanctions about oil exports and the banking system, but it’s very significant relief for the Iranians.”
The talks resumed on November 20th, with sides optimistic that progress can be made.Watch movie online The Transporter Refueled (2015)
About Dr. Yuval Steinitz:
Dr. Yuval Steinitz was born in Israel in 1958. He completed his IDF service in the Golani Brigade and served as a reservist in the Alexandroni Brigade. He holds a B.A. and M.A. (with honors) in Philosophy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Tel Aviv University. He received the Alon Prize for Ph.D. Students in 1993.
Steinitz was a Senior Lecturer in the Philosophy Department at Haifa University. He served as President of the Association for the Public’s Right to Know (1999-2004).
A Member of Knesset since 1999, Steinitz has served as member and chairman of the Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee, and as member of the Constitution, Law and Justice, and the Science and Technology Committees. He chaired the Committee for the Examination of the Intelligence Services Following the War in Iraq as well as the Parliamentary Inquiry Committee for the Events that Took Place in Amona. Since 2003 he has co-chaired the Joint Congress-Knesset Security Committee, together with Senator John Kyl (Arizona).
Yuval Steinitz was appointed Minister of Finance in March 2009, serving until March 2013, when he was appointed Minister of Strategic and Intelligence Affairs responsible for International Relations.
