Paris attacks: Iran missiles ‘bigger threat than ISIS’

Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom said the ideologies of Islamic State were very similar to Hamas.

The Israeli government has downplayed the threat of Islamic State compared to Iran, saying it was merely an irritant terrorist organisation like Hamas and Hezbollah.

In an interview yesterday after the Netanyahu government’s Sunday cabinet meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom said the ideologies of Islamic State were very similar to those of Hamas, the Gaza-based Palestinian Islamic group, and warned that Iran posed a far greater threat to Europe’s and Israel’s existence.

“ISIS is like Hamas, is like Hezbollah,’’ he said. “Hezbollah, Hamas, Daesh — all of them are terrorist organisations, but they do not put a threat to our existence,” he said, using another name for ­Islamic State.

“Iran is developing new mis­siles with much longer range that will put within that range all the capitals of Europe. Iran is a superpower.”

Although Islamic State was “a very small organisation”, the free world had to fight the terror group to extinguish it.

Mr Shalom said Tehran ­financed 30 terrorist organisations across the world and Barack Obama’s recent deal with Iran would not bring about peace or ­security in the region.

Mr Shalom said he doubted the military response by France and Russia of airstrikes against Islamic State would end the terrorist regime. He said Israel would not join military action because its participation would entice its other enemies to join the extremist cause.

“I think that it will be very difficult to put an end to the phenomena only by those attacks from the air,” he said. “It is a very bad phenomena we are facing these days. Islamic State would like to take Europe as well.”

Islamic State had a similar ideology to the terrorist organisations Israel was fighting daily, he said.

“It’s an ideology that Islam should rule the entire world. It’s very close to Hamas.”