BICOM

Israel’s Channel Two yesterday evening broadcast an exclusive interview with US President Barack Obama in which he defended the nascent nuclear agreement with Iran and warned that conditions placed on diplomacy by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made peace “unrealistic.”

Netanyahu said on the eve of March’s general election that the regional and security challenges negated the possibility of a Palestinian state being established, comments which Obama described as “fairly unequivocal.” However, since forming a new government, Netanyahu has publicly and explicitly pledged his support for a two-state solution, inviting the Palestinian Authority (PA) to return to talks without preconditions and has appointed Interior Minister Silvan Shalom to head any future talks.

Nonetheless, Obama told Channel Two that it was “difficult to simply accept at face value” Netanyahu’s recent comments, saying that they “appear to look as if this is simply an effort to return to the previous status quo – that we talk about peace in the abstract, but it is always tomorrow.” He further warned that, “If in fact there is no prospect of a peace process, if no one believes there is a peace process,” then it will become harder for the United States to defend Israel when under attack in international forums.

Turning to the current nuclear talks between the P5+1 powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) and Iran, Obama said, “I care very much about the people of Israel as well, and in my mind it is very much in Israel’s interest to make sure that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon.” However, he contended “the best way to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon is a verifiable tough agreement. A military resolution will not fix it.” Israeli leaders have repeatedly warned that the deal under discussion will further empower Iran. Netanyahu himself commented yesterday that the negotiations would “pave the way for Iran to atom bombs” and that, “When speaking of Israel’s security I rely first and foremost on ourselves.”