world

Obama Reassures Israel

Bibi: 'A Better Deal'
On Iran Is Needed.

Times of Israel

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By Lazar Berman

Times of Israel

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resident Barack Obama said Sunday
that it would be a "moral" failure for his
administration if Israel was weakened
as a result of his policies. "I would consider it a
failure on my part, a fundamental failure of my
presidency, if on my watch or as a consequence of
work that I've done, Israel was rendered more vul-
nerable Obama said in an interview with veteran
New York Times journalist Thomas Friedman.
He said he would consider it "not just a strate-
gic failure, I think that would be a moral failure
adding that no disagreements between Israel and
the United States could break the two countries'
bond.
Obama also said that accusations that his
administration is not doing all it can to ensure
Israel's security have made recent months a "hard
period" for him personally.
"It has been personally difficult for me to hear
... expressions that somehow ... this administra-
tion has not done everything it could to look out
for Israel's interest — and the suggestion that
when we have very serious policy differences, that
that's not in the context of a deep and abiding
friendship and concern and understanding of the
threats that the Jewish people have faced histori-
cally and continue to face he said.
The president appeared to be dampening ris-
ing criticism — in the wake of last week's con-
troversial framework nuclear deal with Iran and
his comments after Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu's election victory — to the effect that
he doesn't take Israeli security concerns seriously
and that personal animus toward Netanyahu has
been driving some policies.
Obama emphasized that he was willing to
make commitments to give Iran and others in
the Middle East "a clarity that if Israel were to
be attacked by any state, that we would stand
by them:' Only weeks after calling into question
Netanyahu's commitment to a two-state solution,
and suggesting the Israeli prime minister resorted

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to racism by referring to "droves" of Arab voters
during the March 17 Israeli elections, Obama
called Israel "a robust, rowdy democracy" in the
interview.
"We share so much. We share blood, family ...
And part of what has always made the U.S.-Israeli
relationship so special is that it has transcended
party, and I think that has to be preserved.
"There has to be the ability for me to disagree
with a policy on settlements, for example, without
being viewed as ... opposing Israel. There has to
be a way for Prime Minister Netanyahu to dis-
agree with me on policy without being viewed as
anti-Democrat, and I think the right way to do it
is to recognize that as many commonalities as we
have, there are going to be strategic differences.
And I think that it is important for each side to
respect the debate that takes place in the other
country and not try to work just with one side:'
Turning to the emerging long-term nuclear
deal with Iran, Obama said that the Israeli people
"have every right to be concerned about Iran.
This is a regime that at the highest levels has
expressed the desire to destroy Israel, that has
denied the Holocaust, that has expressed venom-
ous anti-Semitic ideas and is a big country with
a big population and has a sophisticated military.
So Israel is right to be concerned about Iran, and
they should be absolutely concerned that Iran
doesn't get a nuclear weapon:'
But, said the president, a negotiated deal will be
far more effective than a military strike in ensur-
ing that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon.
Obama also criticized Iran's involvement in
proxy wars around the region, and said that cer-
tain sanctions would remain in place because of
those activities. Still, he expressed hope that Iran
would become an "extremely successful regional
power" that was a "responsible international
player:'
Obama reiterated earlier in the weekend that
the framework represented "a historic under-
standing" that, if fully implemented, would pre-
vent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons. Talks
on a final deal are supposed to be completed by
June 30.

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rime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Sunday that
the political framework for a nuclear deal with Iran reached
Thursday in Switzerland would keep Tehran's vast nuclear
program in place, and that its inter-continental ballistic missile system
(ICBM) — an issue not addressed in the deal — was more of a threat to
the U.S. than to Israel.
Speaking to CNN as part of a U.S. media blitz, the Israeli prime min-
ister said the deal will not roll back Iran's nuclear program. The deal
"keeps Iran's vast nuclear infrastructure in place, not a single centrifuge
destroyed, not a single nuclear facility shut down, including the under-
ground facilities that they built illicitly. Thousands of centrifuges will
keep spinning, enriching uranium; that's a very bad deal.
"They're getting a free path to the bomb:' he said.
Netanyahu also warned that Iran's ICBM program, an issue that was
not negotiated on as part of nuclear talks, was a real threat to the U.S.
"The ending of their ICBMs, that's not in the deal, and those missiles
are only used for you, they're
not used for us. They have
missiles that can reach us
and they're geared for nuclear
weapons:' he said.
The PM said he was in favor
of a diplomatic solution to the NETANYAHU SLAMS IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL ON I
Iran crisis because "for any
Benjamin Netanyahu speaks on CNN.
military option, the country
that will pay the biggest price
is always Israel, so we want a diplomatic solution but a good one, one
that rolls back Iran's nuclear infrastructure and one that ties the final
lifting of restrictions on Iran's nuclear program with a change of Iran's
behavior.
"The alternatives are not either this bad deal or [going to] war:'
Netanyahu told CNN, challenging Obama's assertion Thursday that
Netanyahu does not want a "peaceful" resolution to the Iran standoff.
"I think there's a third alternative and that is standing firm, ratchet-
ing up the pressure until we get a better deal. And a better deal would
roll back Iran's vast nuclear infrastructure and require Iran to stop
its aggression in the region, its terrorism worldwide and its calls and
actions to annihilate the State of Israel. That's a better deal; it's achiev-
able:'
Such a deal was still attainable, he said. "What is required is the
application of very strong sanctions that have proven effective, financial
sanctions and the oil sanctions. There's still time to get a better deal:'
He warned that the restrictions in the deal were time-limited, and
that when it lapses, "after a few years, Iran will have unlimited capacity
to build unlimited nuclear infrastructure:' And with sanctions lifted,
it would also have untold millions more to pursue its nuclear weapons
goal. That's "very bar he said, calling the Iranian threat "a palpable
danger to the peace of the world:'
"If a country vows to annihilate us and is working every day with con-
ventional means and unconventional means, if that country has a deal
that paves its way to nuclear weapons, many nuclear weapons, it endan-
gers our survival; he reiterated Sunday.
"It will also spark an arms race with the Sunni states because they
understand exactly what I just said; he warned.
Netanyahu also warned that Iran would find ways to evade the much-
hyped new inspection procedures.

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