Ahmadinejad: The Period of the Zionists is Over

“The period of the Zionists is over,” Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday, in his latest attack on Israel.

Speaking to the Beirut-based Al Mayadeen television network, which is affiliated with the Hizbullah terror group, Ahmadinejad said, “They (the Zionists) should give their place to others.”

He added, “I hope to pray in Jerusalem after its full liberation. Gaza is my stop before Jerusalem. If they let me, I will visit Gaza.”

The Iranian president claimed that the alleged Israeli attack last week in Syria was proof of Israel's "weakness" and that Syria was unable to retaliate due to the ongoing conflict.

“We were hoping for different circumstances in Syria, that way it could have defended itself," Ahmadinejad told Al Mayadeen.

The Iranian president also said that "war is not a solution" in Syria and called on the government in Damascus and the opposition to engage in talks.

Asked if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should quit, Ahmadinejad replied, "I think it is up to the Syrian people to determine who should stay and who should go."

Ahmadinejad, who is due to visit Egypt this week and meet President Mohammed Morsi, was asked in the interview about talks with Egypt regarding the PalestinianAuthority Arabs, to which he replied, “If we agree on the liberation of Palestine, it will undoubtedly happen.”

"Egypt and Iran can change the equation in favor of the Palestinian people. We want the hopes and aspirations of the Palestinian people to be fulfilled,” he said. “We support the Palestinian people whatever it takes.”

"We do not differentiate between groups and interact with everyone," Ahmadinejad said, referring to the ongoing infighting between rival groups Fatah and Hamas. "Assistance to Palestine is one of the main strategies of the Islamic revolution. How can we help and assist? The Palestinian people will determine that.”

The latest anti-Israel remarks by the Iranian president come a week after he called on all Muslims to mobilize their resources to uproot Zionism.

He made the remarks in his speech to the 26th international conference on Islamic Unity, saying that the prime goal of the Muslims should be terminating the issue of Zionism.

“Under the circumstances that the corrupt, uncultured and murderous Zionists are occupying and killing oppressed people, we should not sit idly by,” Ahmadinejad said.

Several months ago Ahmadinejad labeled Israel “the axis of unity of the world hegemonic powers.”

“It has now been some 400 years that a horrendous Zionist clan has been ruling themajor world affairs, and behind the scenes of the major power circles, in political, media, monetary and banking organizations in the world, they have been the decision makers...” the Iranian president claimed.

The Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has also repeatedly expressed hope that Israel would be wiped off the map.

Last summer Khamenei expressed confidence that the “Palestinians” will eventually retake control of their motherland.

“The light of hope will shine on the Palestinian issue, and this Islamic land will certainly be returned to the Palestinian nation, and the superfluous and fake Zionist (regime) will disappear from the landscape of geography,” Khamenei said.

Arutz Sheva