It’s Time for Diplomacy, But Netanyahu Can’t Wait on Iran

Tuesday, 6 March 2012

It’s Time for Diplomacy, But Netanyahu Can’t Wait on Iran

Speaking at the AIPAC conference in Washington on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the international community to acknowledge the fact that Iran is developing nuclear weapons.
Just hours after meeting US President Barack Obama for some three hours, much of the time spent discussing Iran, Netanyahu adopted a tough tone toward the Islamic Republic, drawing on the so-called Holocaust story to argue that the world, and the Jewish people, cannot “accept a world in which the Ayatollahs have atomic bombs.”
"Amazingly, some people refuse to acknowledge that Iran's goal is to develop nuclear weapons. You see, Iran claims that it's enriching uranium to develop medical research. Yeah, right," Netanyahu said.

“Every day, I open the papers and read about these red lines and these time lines,” Netanyahu said in reference to weeks of speculation on differences between the US and Israel about how to deal with Iran. “I read about what Israel has decided to do or what Israel might do. Well, I’m not going to talk to you about what Israel will do or will not do. I never talk about that.”
Instead, the speech focused on Israel’s historical imperative and justification to act if it felt the need to do so.
Sources who were briefed on the meeting afterward said Obama and Netanyahu agreed to increase their coordination on Iran. Israel's Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz is to visit Washington in two weeks to discuss the issue with U.S. officials.
During their meeting, Obama told Netanyahu that Israel and the United States have an identical goal with regard to ‘preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons’.
"I have no intention of trying to contain the Iranian issue," Obama reportedly told Netanyahu according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
"I think that there's time for diplomacy and in any case I am not taking any options off the table, including a military option."