(Bloomberg) Jeffrey Goldberg - In an interview last Friday, Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said: "The Americans say, 'We will not let Iran have nuclear weapons.' We say we should not let Iran have the capability to produce nuclear weapons. There's a difference. If Iran is allowed to maintain what is called a threshold capability, then in all likelihood, they will break out." "On the matter of inspections that are promised, [the Iranians] built their underground bunkers when they were under inspection!...Intelligence did not prevent enrichment sites from being built without anyone knowing for years. Everybody in the region - everybody - shares my assessment that what you have to do is dismantle Iran's enrichment capability." Commenting on the failed peace talks, Netanyahu said: "Look at what I've done. I gave the speech at Bar-Ilan University, a religious university, five years ago recognizing the two-state solution. Second, I tried a 10-month [settlement] freeze, and Abbas did nothing. Then I did something that was the toughest of all - I released terrorist prisoners, killers of innocent people. That was the hardest decision." "And what has Abbas done? Nothing. He's refused to entertain Kerry's efforts to try and lock horns on the core issues. He internationalized the conflict. He went to the UN organizations in express violation of Oslo and all the interim agreements. And now he's embracing Hamas." I asked about the deal struck last year to remove chemical weapons from Syria. "It's not complete yet," Netanyahu said. "We are concerned that they may not have declared all of their capacity. But what has been removed has been removed. We're talking about 90%. We appreciate the effort that has been made and the results that have been achieved."
2014-05-23 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive