Peres: ME Peace Can Help US Battle Iran, We can’t Exist without US

Al-Manar

22/10/2010 “Israel could aid the United States in its attempts to thwart Iran's nuclear program by pushing forward with peace talks with the Palestinian Authority,” Israeli President Shimon Peres said Thursday, adding that Israel couldn’t exist without US.

Speaking at a meeting of worldwide Jewish leaders in occupied Jerusalem as reported by Haaretz, Peres said that while "Israel cannot give America what it gives us, we, in our small way, can help the U.S. by putting an end to the minor conflict with the Palestinians and allowing it to focus on the main threat – Iran."

Peres said that, "for our existence, we need the friendship of the United States of America."

Speaking of how Israel can give back to the US, he said that just "as the US is trying to understand the security needs of Israel, we Israelis ourselves must understand the security needs of the US." He continued, "We cannot give back to the United States what the US is giving us, but in our own small way, we can be of help."

However, in a more critical note, Army Radio also quoted the president as expressing his disapproval of American attempts to establish democracies in Arab states such as Iraq, saying that the question was 'where is the Muslim world heading?'"

"I appreciate [former U.S. president George] Bush's attempt to expose them to democracy, but is that possible?," Peres asked, adding that it was "very difficult to come to a king and tell him to go to elections."

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