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Netanyahu: Iran's Nuclear Program Threatens the "Survival of My Country"

(CNN) Candy Crowley - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CNN in an interview broadcast Sunday: "I prefer a peaceful solution. Who wouldn't? Israel has the most to gain from a peaceful diplomatic solution, because we're on the firing line." "The problem with the partial deal is that you reduce the sanctions...let out a lot of pressure, and Iran is practically giving away nothing. It's making a minor concession, which they can reverse in weeks, and you endanger the whole sanctions regime that took years to make....Iran...is getting just an enormous deal, from their point of view, and it's giving practically nothing in return. They're keeping their infrastructure to make nuclear bombs." "There's a third option. Sanctions. Increase the sanctions. And in fact, if you do a bad deal, you may get to the point where your only option is a military option. So a bad deal actually can lead you to exactly the place you don't want to be. I think, if you want a peaceful solution, as I do, then the right thing to do is ratchet up the sanctions." "People of good faith can have different opinions. And friends, and the best of friends, can have different opinions. We agree on a lot of things. There's some things we disagree on....I'm the prime minister of Israel, and I have to care for the survival of my country. And Iran maintaining its nuclear weapons capability - that is, the capacity to produce nuclear weapons - threatens directly the future of the Jewish state." "It's no secret that many of the Arab leaders around us have the same view....When Israelis and Arabs are saying the same thing, that doesn't happen very often. It's worthwhile paying attention. We're here. We're close to Iran, and we understand what Iran is doing." "If you want to do a partial deal, then decide what the final deal is, and then do one step. Decide that the final deal will actually implement the very terms that you, the P5+1, have put in the Security Council resolution. Namely, that Iran dismantle all its centrifuges and the plutonium reactor, which are used only for one thing: to make nuclear weapons....Iran...is receiving, as a first step, which may be the final step, a reduction of sanctions which could eliminate the sanctions down the line. Not a good idea." "A real peaceful solution with Iran, which I and Secretary Kerry want and President Obama wants, we all want the same thing....To get it, we have to make sure that Iran doesn't have the capacity to make nuclear bombs. Unfortunately, with the proposed deal, they get to maintain that capacity. And I think that doesn't bode well for peace."
2013-11-18 00:00:00
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