(Ynet).Prime Minister Netanyahu offers cautious praise for UN-drafter , US-backed proposal for dealing with Iran's enriched uranium, calling it "a positive first step" toward denying Tehran the means to make nuclear weaponry.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu raised the issue expressly at the start of talks with US President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy George Mitchell, who does not usually deal with Iran, following more skeptical remarks by Israeli defense officials.
"I also wanted to take this opportunity to express my appreciation for the president's ongoing efforts to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear military capability," Netanyahu said at a brief welcome session video-taped by his office.
"I think that the proposal the president made in Geneva, to have Iran withdraw its enriched uranium -- a portion of it -- outside Iran is a positive first step in that direction."
Netanyahu made no immediate mention of Israel's long-standing demand that any deal with Iran end its domestic uranium enrichment, a process than can yield bomb-grade fuel.