The Israeli ambassador-elect to Britain, Ron Prosor, said Tuesday that the Jews around the world and the global community should do more to focus attention on Iran and its nuclear aspirations.

"We don't see enough done [by] the international community or in the Jewish world to put this issue as number one on the agenda," Prosor told members of the Israel, Britain and the Commonwealth Association (IBCA) at a Tel Aviv luncheon.

"The Iran nuclear weapons program is above the 'pay grade' that one country can deal with alone," he added, warning that time was running out to take effective preventative steps regarding Tehran's atomic plans.

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Prosor said that embargos imposed on the Islamic republic had the potential to yield results, and cited as an example the gasoline shortages in Tehran, which came despite Iran's position as one of the top oil producers in the world.

"Sanctions, when they are done in a serious manner, do have an effect," he said.

The new envoy, a Foreign Ministry veteran who participated in negotiations with both Syria and the Palestinians, said that Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza and Iran's desire to play a more dominant role in the region had set alarms bells ringing among moderate Arab leaders.

As a result, he said, some Arab states were doing "things they would never have done before" regarding the Middle East peace process.

But Prosor levelled harsh criticism at Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas for failing to impose his rule in the Palestinian territories.

"Today, under Abu Mazen [Abbas], there is no central command or central control," Prosor said.

He said, however, that while he did not have "one positive word to say" about Abbas' predecessor as PA chairman and Fatah leader, Yasser Arafat, the late Palestinian leader at least "had control over what was going on."

IBCA chairman Brenda Katten, in welcoming Prosor, a fluent English speaker, said that his appointment has been well received by British olim and by the British Jewish community.

Katten stressed that this is the first diplomatic appointment to the Court of St. James in almost nine years. The political appointments of recent years have caused some frustration.