A sense of isolation prevails in Israel’s media on Wednesday — reflected in both news reporting and opinion pieces — following Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s Tuesday speech to the UN General Assembly.

Populist outlet Ynet and Channel 2 focus on comments made by Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon on Wednesday morning. Ya’alon spoke out in support of Netanyahu’s stance on Iran, saying that the Prime Minister had “drawn an accurate picture” of Israel’s stance on Iran and President Hassan Rouhani.

“In the UN, the Prime Minister described an accurate reality about how we see the Iranian threat, which is ongoing, even though President Rouhani spoke sweetly and Western officials prefer not to face reality with open eyes,” Ya’alon told reporters during a tour of the Golan Heights.

The Defense Minister echoed Netanyahu’s words, saying that Iran posed a terror threat in the region and beyond, “Iran carries out terror in Afghanistan, it trains and arms Hezbollah, it tries to smuggle weapons into Gaza, it is investing in infrastructure of terrorism in South America and Asia and its centrifuges continue to turn. That is why we say you have to stop the Iranian nuclear program by all means.”

Channel 2 also carries comments from Security Cabinet member and Minister Silvan Shalom, who warned that Israel stands alone.

“We are quite alone in facing the Iranian threat to destroy us,” Shalom said, adding that Rouhani is no different from his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad:

“Israel is trying to remove the mask from Rouhani’s face, he speaks sweetly and in a different way from Ahmadinejad, but he did not really no different from him. His aim is to gain more time to build a nuclear bomb, which would be an eternal insurance certificate for the ayatollahs’ regime,” Shalom added.

Even left-leaning daily Haaretz — which is usually vocal in its opposition to Netanyahu and his Likud party — said that Netanyahu gave a “detailed and well-written indictment” against Iran — if one that nobody heard.

Veteran political journalist Chemi Shalev writes that, “[Netanyahu] gave his message simply and clearly… [with] no gimmicks this time, presented a detailed and well-written indictment, point for point, against Iran’s nuclear plots and the attempts of the new president to cover them up. Netanyahu presented his, brought evidence to prove it, drew conclusions from them and finished with a dramatic punchline: If there is no choice, he said, Israel will defend itself, even if it have to do it alone,” Shalev writes.

Shalev continues, “He remained faithful to his beliefs and his views, stood firmly against the current, did not hesitate to take position into which circumstances forced him, and which spoiled the atmosphere and ruined parties… No, there is not,was not and will not be a new Middle East, not from the President of Israel and not from the President of Iran. You have been warned…”

However, Shalev says, nobody actually wanted to listen to Netanyhu’s words, “This speech was not pleasant for the ears of liberal opinion makers, who wish to wholeheartedly believe in Rouhani’s messages of reconciliation…”.

The right-of-center Maariv has an analysis by Eli Avidar, a former official in the Israeli Foreign Ministry, who warns that we must not trust the new Iranian President — for, even if he means what he says, the final decision is not his to make.

Avidar writes, ” The greatest diplomatic achievement of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in recent days was not limited to the images of his Foreign Minister with the U.S. Secretary of State, applause at the UN or the change of tone towards Iran in the international media. His actual achievement is creating the impression that he is the Head of State, as if he has authority for the strategic decisions of the Islamic Republic…”

Avidar goes on to say that in Iran, as in other countries, internal forces influence decision-making. In Iran, “this is particularly the case for the Revolutionary Guards, established personally by Khomeini, and the body that has remained the most faithful to his path….”

He continues, “Iran’s change of President, and even the dramatic change in style, does not necessarily reflect a change in policy, especially in a country largely dominated by non-elected institutions… The Revolutionary Guards also notice fading determination of the United States and Europe, tired of wars.”

Avidar ends with a warning that is close in tone to that expressed by Defense Minister Ya’alon: we should not trust Rouhani over the nuclear issue.

“Even if Rouhani has serious intentions, it is difficult to believe that he could convince anyone to abandon Iran’s nuclear program, when it is clear to everyone that there is no loaded gun on the table. The only pressure exerted on Iran today is economic isolation, and there are those who are willing to remove even that. The West’s desire to bring about a conceptual change of course with Iran is understood, but a cautious and even skeptical approach must be maintained, and caution taken to avoid a simplistic divide between “moderates” and “Zealots”. And it is now worth remembering that Iran’s nuclear program began during the term of the mildest President Iran has ever had — Mohammad Khatami.”

[Featured image: Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon In The Golan Heights On Wednesday (Ynet)]