INTERVIEW WITH NETANYAHU

HERE IS AN EXCERPT FROM A FINANCIAL TIMES INTERVIEW WITH ISRAEL'S NEXT PRIME MINISTER, BIBI NETANYAHU:

FT: Does the fear many Arab regimes feel for Iran create a strategic opportunity for Israel?

BN: Categorically yes.

FT: How do you see that working?

BN: I think what it means is that if you broaden the search for a Palestinian-Israeli peace from two players to, say, four and you involve Jordan and Egypt in creative ways then you can probably resolve some of the problems – an example would be tackling a major problem the Palestinians have, which is instituting law and order in their own cities and streets and preventing the spillage of violence into their own homes and into ours. Clearly, they need assistance. Some kind of federated or confederated effort between Jordan and the Palestinians might introduce that function of security and peace.

FT: Does this apply to Gaza as well?

BN: That’s the point. We have to get our sights focused on a broader approach. Right now it’s all a zero-sum game. Israel is supposed to be constricted on its narrowest part, shut its eyes, hope for good and pray. And that doesn’t work out for Israelis or Palestinians. But if you look at this puzzle both in terms of territory and in terms of security functions and of course economic functions and transport, if you look at it at least with four players then there are many, many more opportunities and I intend to propose concrete plans along these dimensions.

FT: Do you see Saudi Arabia as a potentially helpful participant?

BN: It could be. But I don’t think the Saudi plan is necessarily what I am talking about. The Saudi plan is traditional Arab demands of Israel returning to the indefensible six-day lines and being prepared to negotiate on its own dissolution, on the so-called right of return of the so-called Arab refugees, and that’s not helpful.

A much better approach would be to base territorial negotiations on [United Nations Resolution] 242. I remember this from Madrid – the Madrid peace process – and 242 is a good starting point. But if the idea is to get an Arab consensus on the idea that Israel has a right to exist and that no more demands will be made on it after the end of the negotiations, this is a move forward. I am not sure the Saudi plan has this goal truly built into it. It is too traditional an Arab demand.

FT: The crucial thing is to get the right of return out of the negotiation?

BN: Get rid of it: off the table. My existence is not something to be negotiated, the existence of my country is not negotiable, neither is Britain’s, neither is Belgium’s, or any country’s.

READ THE WHOLE THING. BIBI TALKS ABOUT THE ISRAELI ECONOMY, THE WAR ON TERROR AND LAST YEAR'S WAR IN LEBANON.