People in the Middle East Want Freedom, Not Terror

Jerusalem, March 31 - “The greatest terror of all, is the danger of nuclear terror,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday (March 30).

The next generation must prevent militant Islamic regimes from gaining nuclear weapons, he said, referring to Iran and the danger of a Taliban takeover of Pakistan, a nation with nuclear capabilities.

He was answering questions via YouTube’s World View program, in which questions were submitted to the premier from around the world.

“The reason we don’t have peace is because the Palestinians have so far refused to recognize a Jewish state in any border,” Netanyahu said in response to a question about Israel’s construction policies in the West Bank.

“The fact that a few hundred houses are built on less than one percent of the land in dispute is not the issue. It is disputed land. And we have a historical connection there,” he explained.

“We need to sit down and negotiate for peace, and so far the Palestinians have refused to do so. You can’t conclude a peace agreement if you don’t begin to negotiate it,” said Netanyahu.

The housing refers to places that are likely to remain part of Israel in a negotiated settlement, he explained, because they are essentially suburbs of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

“Nobody expects us to dismantle these places, and Palestinian interlocutors even admit that in private,” he said.

“The issue of settlements has to be resolved, and we are prepared to enter those negotiations. But they have to include the Palestinian Authority saying ‘yes we recognize a Jewish state and yes we will make compromises and yes, Israel will be here permanently’,” he added.

Israel is a genuine democracy in the Middle East, Netanyahu said in a response to questions about protests in the region.

It is “the only one in the heart of the Middle East that respects human rights and respects the rights of its Arab citizens,” he explained.

“Arab citizens make up 20 percent of the Israeli population and enjoy full civil rights in Israel and Muslim citizens enjoy complete freedom and equality before the law,” Netanyahu added.

The premier explained that there are Arab Knesset (parliament) members, ministers, doctors, lawyers and judges, and in fact, an Arab judge in Israel’s Supreme Court.

When asked about the eruptions of violence around the Middle East, Netanyahu said that “we are all on the same side,” and that the democratic world wants to see “the triumph of democracy.”

“Democracy is a friend of peace. But we are all concerned that democracy will be hijacked by radical regimes,” Netanyahu added.

He explained that the revolutions really started in Iran after the election was “stolen” from the people in 2009. Known as the Green Revolution, Iranian activists and opposition leaders peacefully took to the streets to reform the hard-line Islamic government. They were fired upon by Iranian security forces and many were killed.

Five years ago, in Lebanon’s Cedar Revolution, a million people marched in Beirut for a free Lebanon that was “open, liberal and tolerant,” Netanyahu added. “But that’s not what we see now. We have a theocracy with Iran and Hezbollah controlling Lebanon,” he said.

The Israel Project