(Bloomberg) -- Israeli Industry and Trade Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said that with U.S. backing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will forge a peace agreement with the Palestinians.
“I am more than sure that with the support of President Barack Obama and the Americans, if the Americans support Bibi Netanyahu, he will lead the breakthrough,” said Ben-Eliezer, a member of the Labor Party who has long supported a land-for- peace agreement with the Palestinians. Ben-Eliezer spoke in an interview today in his Tel Aviv office.
“I met with Netanyahu yesterday and he is keen to try and find a formula of how to try and move forward together” toward starting talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, said Ben-Eliezer, a retired general and former military governor in the West Bank.
“If I were Obama, I would call tomorrow morning Abu Mazen and Netanyahu and close them up in a room with their team for three months and then I’d see who is going to be ready to sacrifice, to compromise, to go fast and very far,” he said. “It will be our side."
“Netanyahu has come a very long way,” said Ben-Eliezer, who says he is ready himself to divide the city for peace.
“Bear in mind that the strategy that led Netanyahu to go this distance is very simple,” he said. “He knew one thing, that the major issue when we are talking about an existential problem is not the Palestinians, or the Syrians. It is Iran. And unfortunately, the Americans do nothing.”
Ben-Eliezer said the U.S. needs to work harder to insure effective sanctions to stop Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government from continuing its nuclear program.
“The world we are surrounded by is speaking in double language: in day time, resolutions and resolutions. In night time, 1,200 companies are working with Ahmadinejad,” Ben- Eliezer said. “If someone means to go for a real embargo -- no in, no out -- the whole thing will be changed.”
“I am more than sure that with the support of President Barack Obama and the Americans, if the Americans support Bibi Netanyahu, he will lead the breakthrough,” said Ben-Eliezer, a member of the Labor Party who has long supported a land-for- peace agreement with the Palestinians. Ben-Eliezer spoke in an interview today in his Tel Aviv office.
“I met with Netanyahu yesterday and he is keen to try and find a formula of how to try and move forward together” toward starting talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, said Ben-Eliezer, a retired general and former military governor in the West Bank.
“If I were Obama, I would call tomorrow morning Abu Mazen and Netanyahu and close them up in a room with their team for three months and then I’d see who is going to be ready to sacrifice, to compromise, to go fast and very far,” he said. “It will be our side."
“Netanyahu has come a very long way,” said Ben-Eliezer, who says he is ready himself to divide the city for peace.
“Bear in mind that the strategy that led Netanyahu to go this distance is very simple,” he said. “He knew one thing, that the major issue when we are talking about an existential problem is not the Palestinians, or the Syrians. It is Iran. And unfortunately, the Americans do nothing.”
Ben-Eliezer said the U.S. needs to work harder to insure effective sanctions to stop Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government from continuing its nuclear program.
“The world we are surrounded by is speaking in double language: in day time, resolutions and resolutions. In night time, 1,200 companies are working with Ahmadinejad,” Ben- Eliezer said. “If someone means to go for a real embargo -- no in, no out -- the whole thing will be changed.”