"First, it didn't begin in Tunisia. It began in Tehran a year and a half ago. Millions went to the streets and called for freedom, for democracy, from this repressive regime and they were put down brutally. And then it, you know, it came back in Tunis. And then from Tunis it went to Cairo, and then from Cairo it is going everywhere.
Did I expect it at this time? No. Did I expect it at one time, atsometime? Yes. Because the spread of information technology creates an inevitable conflict; that is, in many ways, the 20th century passed by a lot of the Arab world and the Muslim world. And incomes the information technology of the 21st century and it is telling all these people what they missed out on. And this creates the turbulence. Will it end quickly? I doubt it. I think each country is different but they are all-they all suffer the same gap between people's expectations and the performance of their societies up to now.
Israel following Middle East instability:
"We all have our hopes and we all have our fears. You are looking at this and two places cheered what was happening in Cairo. One was Washington, and its allies. The other one was Tehran, and its allies. You know they weren't seeking the same outcome. You know there is a fundamentally different outcome that each was seeking. We had all hoped, and we still hope, that you will have a democratic transformation. That the, you know, the Google kids, the Facebook kids, you will create a Google heaven and a Facebook paradise, and all these people will come to power. That is obviously what people in the West, and people in free societies would like to see. It is not clear that that would happen.
The nightmare scenario -
Hamas- Iran:That you get another Iran. That you get-you had a revolution. Five years ago in Lebanon a million Lebanese, that is the equivalent to 20 million Egyptians, walked in the streets of Beirut, chanting for freedom, chanting for secular reformist, a liberal Lebanese state. Five years later Lebanon is controlled by Hezbollah, which is controlled by Iran. That is what we don't want to see. We don't want to see this stark Medievalism that represses women, that crushes the rights of people, that holds us back a millennia. That fosters violence. That does everything that we abhor. That it would take over.
And I think that these are the two poles. One is real democratic change and the other is a descent to militant Islamism that squashes all freedoms and threatens the peace of everyone.
'Mubarak kept the peace. Egypt kept the peace for over 30 years and it should be remember and appreciated. The people in Gaza, and those who are affiliated with Hamas, want to see the collapse of the peace and the eradication of Israel. They are supported by Iran, that has given them tens of thousands of mortar shells, rockets. They fired already 6,000 rockets and missiles on Israel. So clearly that is not a force for peace or for progress.
There are other people in Gaza, but they are in fact subjugated by Hamas. They are not given any choice, any more than the people in Iran were given a choice. They are not given a real choice for freedom. They are knocked down. You know, if you can give me a deal. If God came down from heaven and said, here, I'll give you a choice. OK, this revolution from the Khyber Pass to the Straits of Gibraltar, that is shaking everything in place, except us, because we are an open, democratic, prosperous society. But everybody else is suffering this groundswell, this earthquake, this sandstorm, volcanic eruptions, OK? But it also includes the place where it started, Tehran. And Tehran is transformed into a democratic society. I would say it is worth it. Because the Middle East would have a brilliant future.
Muslim Brotherhood -Radical Islam:The worst outcome is Iran, where this all started, stays immune to it. Continues its repressive, brutal regime, develops nuclear weapons, exports terrorism everywhere. And muddles in-meddles, rather-in the other places and transforms them into so-called Islamist republics. And I would say that is the worst nightmare.
"That is what people said about Hamas. That is what people said about Hezbollah. That is what people said about Khomeini. I remember, you know-I give you an example of the Cedar Revolution, the secular, liberal, open, pro-Western Cedar Revolution in Lebanon? There was a revolution in Iran in 1979. And it began with Shapur Bahktiar, He was a Western-oriented, open governance and so on. And he was disposed after three months. So, the question is, what do you get. You get 1979 in Iran, and you get 1989 in Western Europe-Eastern Europe. In Eastern Europe they turned towards democracy, in Iran they turned towards a backward theocracy.
Libya, Gadhafi: .And I have not seen a single case in which the Muslim Brotherhood, of its various shapes and hues, turns toward the European liberal model. They invariably turn to more closer, or identical to the Iranian model.
Gadhafi is no friend of Israel. He's not friend of the Jewish people. And I think his people can see now, he's no friend of the Libyan people. This is a man who helped explode civilian airlines in the skies. He's fostered terrorism. He's done a lot of terrible things. So I don't think anybody would be sorry to see him go..I think he could be done away with and I think everybody would benefit.everyone seems to be in agreement that he's got to go.I wouldn't rule out very firm action against Libya. I think that is something that should be considered seriously. If America decided to take military action, I Certainly wouldn't be against it.
Iran - Nuclear:
Action against Iran:The first thing I have been trying to do for about 15 years, I was elected the first time about 15 years ago. And I went to speak at the-before the joint session of the U.S. Congress. And I said that the single greatest threat facing the world, and my own country, was the arming of Iran with nuclear weapons. And since then what I have been trying to do is alert the world and the leaders of the world that it is not merely our problem, that it is their problem. Because Iran today is in Afghanistan, it is in Iraq, it has gotten control of Lebanon. It has gotten control of half the Palestinian.Even to the extent that they are transparent it is very clear what they are doing? They are-they have enriched enough material now almost for three nuclear bombs. They still have to re-enrich it again, but that is what they are doing. They are building long-range ICBMs, not only to reach us.
One of the things that we are telling people is that sanctions by themselves are not going to be enough. That the only thing that will work is if Iran knew that if sanctions fair there will be a credible military option, Lead by preferably by the United States. It is not that complicated. It could be done. It is not easy, but it is not impossible. And here is the paradox. The paradox is that if you had a credible military option you probably wouldn't have to use it. Because the one time that the Iranians backed off-in the 15 years that I've been talking about this-that they backed off and actually stopped their nuclear program, was in 2003 when they thought that the United States, following its actions in Afghanistan and Iraq, would take action against them. So they stopped .
I think the United States has proven great effectiveness and I'm going to divulge a secret to you about their capabilities. They're actually greater than ours. I mean, the American Air Force and the American Army is bigger than the Israeli Army and they're absolutely....
We always reserve the right to defend ourselves. That's been one of the tragedies of Jewish history that the Jewish people were thrust into a state of defenselessness we were attacked again and again and again with viciousness and never had the capacity to defend ourselves. We now have that capacity.
we don't pose a threat to anyone. We don't call for anyone's annihilation. We don't foster terrorism. We don't threaten to obliterate countries with nuclear weapons but we are threatened with all these threats. We have not fired thousands of rockets into our neighbors...
Itamar massacre:And I think this fanatic ideology armed with nuclear weapons is the single greatest threat to the peace of the world, to the peace not only of Jerusalem but of London, Berlin, Paris. And New York.
They murder, we build:This was horrific. It was savagery. I mean, several Palestinian terrorists came into the home of this Jewish family in the West Bank. They stabbed a three-month old baby girl in the heart, cut her throat. They stabbed her four-year old brother in the heart, cut him in the throat. They stabbed the father with another child and stabbed the mother and left them dying in their blood.
So obviously the first response is sheer horror. And my second response was to send a message to the settlers to contain their rage and not respond because we'd have a cycle of reprisals so I asked them to - not to take the law in their own hands, not to have vigilante actions because this would – could generate a blood bath. I thought that was important to stop that. But we're now looking for the killers. We'll find them.
I wanted to send three messages. The first one is a message of restraint to the settlers. The second is a message to the terrorists. I was telling them, I know you think you're going to uproot us with this savagery, with the violence, with terror. You're not going to uproot us. So you kill us, you want to drive us into the sea, that's not going to happen. You only way we'll have a settlement is through peaceful negotiations. So you kill, we'll build. But coincidentally I chose to build in the large populated areas that are going to stay in Israel anyway. And not 500 new settlements but 500 apartments, which is very different.
And third, I wanted to send a message to the international community. I said to the international community that rushes to condemn Israel for every building that is build. You know, a Jew builds an apartment in the Jewish homeland. What a terrible crime. But they seldom go and condemn this kind of savagery without any ands, ifs and buts and I wanted that condemnation.
Seven prime ministers have tried to get peace with the Palestinians since the peace process began in Oslo in 1993. Some of them made extraordinarily generous concessions and it didn't work because the Palestinians first under Arafat and now under Abu Mazen have not picked it up. They refuse to go the distance and actually recognize the Jewish state and make the compromises that are required from both sides.
The entire world is focusing on the compromises that are necessary from Israel's side. And I'm prepared to make a lot of those compromises for peace. But they're not focusing on the fact that the Palestinians refuse to make the necessary compromises that are required on their side for peace.
"MORGAN: Why don't you go to Ramallah and be the big guy here? Why don't you go and take concessions, which are perhaps more than you're prepared to give right now and say, I'm calling the bluff here, not just as the Palestinians but as the international community. Because I'll tell you what would happen. The international community is desperate for this to work. They would come with you. And yes, there would be, of course, problems.But in the end somebody has to be the big guy here and that could be you, couldn't it?"
Netanyahu: Yes, it does. But peace requires two to tango. And what I suggested the simplest thing- I said to Abu Mazen who was flying around in the world, don't fly around the world. You want to make peace? Ramallah, where you said, is 10 minutes away from Jerusalem where we're sitting right now. I'm willing to come to you. You can come here. Let's sit down, shut the room, you know, basically sit down until smoke comes out.
That's the way you make peace. That's how we made peace with Egypt. That's how we made peace with Jordan.
I think it's possible to achieve that peace. I'll tell you what, I've always wanted it because I went through war. I went through war in Egypt, I nearly drowned in the Suez Canal in the fire fight during the War of Attrition – I was shot rescuing a hijacked – I've nearly died several times in fire fights. I had a brother lost in a battle. I had many friends lost. I mean, one of - the experience that I remember was as an 18-year-old soldier, just a few short weeks after entering the army, holding a friend who died in my arms. You don't want war. Amid all the pundits who explain to us that Israel doesn't want peace, where are they living? We're an embattled country. They're trying to destroy us.
We want peace more than any other people. We pray for peace, yearn for peace, dream about peace. I want to make sure that the peace holds.
The Netanyahu legacy:One of the things that I've said in this part of the world, the only peace that would hold is a peace that you can defend. So I'm willing to make that kind of peace, a peace with security. I'm willing for a defensible peace to make the tough choices
The legacy I want is that I hope secure the life the Jewish state and its future. We did have - we did act precipitously. We walked out of Gaza. We uprooted. Talk about concessions. We uprooted 10,000 Israelis out of Gaza, just eliminated the settlements that were supposed to be the obstacle to peace. We walked out, Iran walked in. We didn't get peace. We walked out of Lebanon, every last inch. We walked out, Iran walked in. From Lebanon they fired 6,000 rockets at us. This is a country the size of New Jersey. From Gaza, after we walked out, they fired 6,000 rockets at us.
Now, they say, "Just walk out of the West Bank. Make the concession. Come on, do it again, a third time." We could be in a position where we can't live. So my concern is, I want peace for Israel but I want a peace that we can defend and I want a peace that will hold. nts.
So I would say the first condition of peace, we'll make concessions,obviously. We'll have to make territorial concessions and that's hard. This is our ancestral homeland. This is the land of the bible.
We say that Jerusalem has to remain united under Israel. That's our position going into the negotiations. I know it's a very emotional issue for the Palestinians. So I've agreed – to have this issue brought up in the negotiations –We'll have to look for very creative solution here.
Steps taken by Israel gov't:We recognize the rights of the Palestinians for a state of their own. Even though they're sitting in part of our ancestral homeland, it's very painful to do that. But I've been doing it. I've been saying it. But they refuse to say that they recognize a Jewish state, a nation state for the Jewish people.
I'm talking about the Palestinian authority that should confront Hamas and confront their own people and say, hey, it's over. We give up the ghost of dismantling Israel or dissolving Israel or flooding it with refugees. It's over. No more war, no more bloodshed. Just as Sadat said. I want to hear that clear statement but I'm willing, I've already made those statements.
And so the problem you have in the international community is that the Palestinians do not want to put a finality to the conflict, do not want to say that a Palestinian state will be an end to a conflict and not a stage in the dissolution of Israel. Now, they speak peace to the outside but not to their own people.I'm ready as the prime minister of Israel to deliver peace. I give you an opportunity. I'm willing to do this and I can deliver a peace. Because if I sign a peace – people of Israel will follow me.
But you've got to give us the two elements of peace that are required to have a real peace, not a fake peace. The real peace requires security and the real peace requires that you actually reconcile yourself to a Jewish state here, permanently. This is what we want.
Israel's position in the world:I removed hundreds of road blocks, check points and so on and the result is that the Palestinian economy and the West Bank has grown at 10 percent,But the economic peace is not a substitute for political negotiations.
And on day one of forming my government, I called on President Abbas to come here and talk people. The second step that I took, it's a tough decision, I froze construction in the settlement. construction in the settlements are not a real issue, they're an artificial issue. The settlements cover only one or two percent of the territory of the West Bank and a few hundred apartments in this one percent is meaningless. But it's become an issue. I said, all right. You know, if it makes it easier for you, I'll freeze construction for 10 months. They didn't come. And when they finally came, they bolted after two weeks.
I recognize the principle of two states for two people. I agreed to another extension, three months. I did all these things. And what do I find? That the Palestinians can walk away from the negotiations, make pre-conditions, call public square in honor of terrorists and now they're talking about a national unity with Hamas that calls for our destruction. How can you be for peace with Israel and peace with Hamas that calls for our destruction.
Anti Israel - Antisemitsim:I think there is-first of all, I think there is a structural difference between the way that Europe views Israel, and America views Israel. The European view is informed by the importance of colonialism in Europe's past. So for Europeans we are, I don't know, we're like Belgiums in the Congo, or the French in Alger, or the British in India. You know, strange interlopers in somebody else's land. But in fact, we have been here for 4,000 years. This is our ancestral homeland.
My name, Benjamin, my name sake, Benjamin the Son of Jacob, roamed these hills four millennia ago. There is a signet ring, in my office, found next to where the Western Wall is now, from the time of the Jewish kings, not that distant from King David. And there is a name written onit in Hebrew. The name is Netanyahu. That is my last name. So we have been around here. We're not foreigners. We're not the Belgiums in the Congo. And the Americans understand that instinctively because for America this is not a colonial past. This is the Promised Land. America was the new promised land, we are the original Promised Land.
I think, honest and fair people understand that Israel wants peace, that the Palestinians have rejected negotiations. And I hope they change their mind.
World Challenged of peace process failure:But there is also anti-Semitism in Europe. There is the new boiling anti-Semitism of radical Islam that sweeps Europe, as a whole. And there is a strange fusion-that is the only word I can use to describe it-a fusion with the anti-Semitism of the radical far, far left. And you know this is the strangest view you could possibly contemplate. Because the radical Muslims, you know, they stone women, they execute gays, they against any human rights. They are against feminism, against what have you. And the far left that is supposed to be for these things, they all unite on one thing, you know, bashing Israel state. And that is a terrible union and one that I think should be excoriated. It should be condemned. Because the last thing these people have in mind is peace-maybe a peace without Israel.
I expect Europe, on whose soil 6 million Jews were exterminated, to display some understand, to put it mildly, for Israel's security concerns. And, you know, often I'm advised on what is really good for Israel. Be a little more humble.
They are actually accelerating the movement away from peace. Because when the international community says to Israel, you are the only one who has to compromise, but they don't ask the Palestinians to compromise. To actually recognize the Jewish state, to understand that we'll have to have security arrangements, otherwise we could get Iran walking in again, a third time, into territory that we vacated.
a lot of the international community who think that they are advancing peace are lining up unilaterally with the Palestinian demands. And in fact, what they are doing is pushing peace further away.
You can't oppose peace from the outside. No, peace comes from the actual negotiations that both sides do, and the compromises they give each other. That is what happened with Begin and Sadat, with Israel and Egypt. That is what happened with Rabin, and the late King Hussein, with Israel and Jordan. And that is what has to happen, began happening when I negotiated some arrangements with the Palestinians. They are the only two agreements that have held up in the 18 years since the Oslo peace process began. The two agreements that have held up are the peace agreement I negotiated on Hebron, and the peace agreement I negotiated at Wye. These are partial agreements.
I am prepared to negotiate a final agreement, but I need a partner. That partner, right now, because of the international, reflexive attitude against Israel, that puts the onus on Israel's side, Israel is proven guilty, is judged guilty until proven guilty, and the Palestinians are deemed innocent. They don't have to do anything. They can call public squares in honor of terrorists. They can teach their children in textbooks that Israel doesn't exist. They can have their state media, state controlled media-Israeli media is not state-controlled I guarantee you. They are-phew-vigorously independent. They can do whatever they want.
They are given a pass, the Palestinians Authority. And I say stop giving them a pass. You want peace? You have to get both sides to compromise. And above all, you have to get both sides to sit down and negotiate. For God's sake, Abu Mazen is 10 minutes away. I'll come to him. He can come here. I can go anywhere.
On personal life and heroes.I speak to him regularly.he's expressed the support for Israel, and especially for Israel security. And I have tosay that he's acted on it, in ways that are not commonly known. Because if the United States has recently supported our anti-missile defense, we cooperated with security in ways that people don't normally know.
I did appreciate the fact that the president vetoed one-sided and unfair resolution at the UN SecurityCouncil. I think that part of the way that we see American support for Israel is the willingness to stand up if necessary alone against unfair, unbalanced resolutions. And that's important to put balance in the reflection -
I think that people in the United States recognize that Israel wants peace, needs peace, but needs a peace that can be defended.
Heroes:
Theodor Herzl - He began at 36. He was a journalist in Vienna, saw the Dreyfus trial, understood that the Jews were going to be exterminated in Europe and began the movement that resulted in the creation of the modern Jewish state. He worked all of eight years. Like a prophet of old (ph) who came out of nowhere and changed the history of our people. He was a pretty big hero.Israel wants Peace with Netanyahu:
I admire Winston Churchill because I think he saw the danger to western civilization and acted in time to staunch the hemorrhage. I have other heroes.
Personal:
My brother lost his life in the battle against terror. Made a profound impact on me. I have to tell you it changed my life and steered it into its present course.
every time that I have to make a decision to put our soldiers in harm's way, and if they are lost, I go to the families, the bereaved families and I think of these are my parents and my brother is me.
And so my brother once said that the test of a commander - of a great commander is not merely to win the battle, but to win it with the minimal loss of life. That's what he always did. That's what I try to do. And his last battle at Entebbe at the rescue at Entebbe, in fact, he was the only soldier who lost his life. First of all, economize with lives. They're too precious. And second, seek to bring the world to peace.
It's actually astounding and remarkable that Israel is getting this bad press. It's amazing that people who have stood, you know, in the ramparts of war and know the cost of war, that they're accused of not wanting peace when they're - we've done concessions, we've done steps for peace that no one has ever done. We've given up the Sinai. We've given up all our oil. Can you imagine people doing that anywhere else in the world? And we're prepared to do more. And yet it is Israel that is being castigated.
I think of my brother, I think of my sons, I think of our children, I think of the Palestinian children. We could have a better world. We could have a world of peace and considerable prosperity as it turns out. But it has to be based on truth. It can't be based on distortion. And the worst distortion is that we who pray for peace and are threatened with eradication, that we don't want peace. We do. With God's help we'll find it. With God's help, I'll find it.
There has been a change in Israel. It's interesting. I think two parallel things have happened. One, a political readiness on the part of the public and I represent a mainstream party, a center right party. It's got its fringes here and there but people know that if I bring a peace, they'll be willing to follow it, including territorial concessions. They'll buy it.
And yet at the same time that there's been a political softening of the position of the mainstream Israeli public, there's been a hardening of the security requirements. So the peace has to be a lot more robust in terms of security. Why? Because we've seen that we walk out and Iran comes in time and time again. We see the instability in the region, this earthquake, all kind of corruption –So they want both. They're willing to make compromises but they expect me not to compromise on our security.