(via Haaretz).Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Charlie Rose in an interview on PBS Monday night, that he can deliver peace, claiming that the Palestinians were once again making a terrible mistake by not returning to the negotiating table.
"I'm ready to negotiate anywhere any time, without preconditions, just do it. It's so simple yet they make it so complicated. It's like the Nike commercial, just do it. And I'm prepared to just do it."
"I don't want the Palestinian population incorporated as citizens of Israel or as subjects of Israel so they have to live in their own state.”
“I just want to make sure that that state doesn't become another Gaza, doesn't become another mini-Iran which could destroy the one and only Jewish state."
"I think the Palestinians are again making a terrible mistake, i implore the Palestinians to take that opportunity and make peace, for God’s sake."
Netanyahu said that he refused to compromise on Jerusalem as a united city, but said this is not a precondition for negotiations; it is a position in the negotiations:
"It’s even silly to come forward and say, “Well, I’ll offer this percent, you know, with a decimal point of land” - that’s what the negotiations are for! Now, I don’t hear Abbas saying anything - nothing! He’s not offering anything."
“You know, we have a century of conflict to resolve. Six hours, that's all you give?".
When asked about his rocky relationship with Obama, Netanyahu told Rose that:
"we may have some differences on this or that point but to be honest I think we're very close on the main things. We've had some differences on the definition of the borders, but that's something that will be worked out in negotiations, and we agree with that."
The Prime minister also discussed the threat of a nuclear Iran:
"Stopping him (Ahmadinejad) should not only be my concern, it should be the concern of America, of every civilized nation, I hope that we all recognize that we have to act in time. The Iranian goal of getting to a nuclear weapon gets closer with every day that passes".
“Peace with the Palestinians will not stop the centrifuges from spinning in Tehran, but if you stop the centrifuges from spinning in Tehran, you might actually get an easier peace with the Palestinians. Half of the Palestinian population that is controlled by Iran, Hamas, would immediately lose any meaning, because without Iran, without Iran's invincibility, Hamas doesn't go very far. It's like Cuba without the Soviet Union".
Rose asked Netanyahu if he would ask for U.S. approval to launch a preemptive strike on Iran. Netanyahu responded coyly, saying “look, Israel is a sovereign country. We always reserve the right to defend ourselves. But I wouldn't say anything beyond that.”
