http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=176417Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today told a meeting in New York City "I will confound my skeptics" on peace in the Middle East and suggested no attack on Iran's nuclear production operations is planned.
The prime minister, winding up a three-day U.S. visit, told reporters Israel agrees with President Obama that diplomatic and economic pressure on Iran is the "approach" to resolve the nuclear standoff.
Iran, whose president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has publicly proclaimed he will wipe Israel off the face of the Earth, has been developing a nuclear power program that opponents believe is a cover for the construction of nuclear weapons.
Netanyahu did confirm that all options "remain open."
During his visit, Netanyahu made stops at the White House to confer with Obama and at the U.N. to talk with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
"The visit was doomed to success," explained one member of the Israeli media who made the U.S. trip.
The widely reported estrangement between Obama and Netanyahu was seen as now taking on a more normal course, according to the Israeli press.
"They both need to live with one another," commented an Israeli reporter.
As such, Netanyahu followed a tightly prepared script which at times seemed to be written for him in Washington.
The consensus among media at today's briefing was that Netanyahu will wait to see the outcome of the 2010 U.S. congressional elections before committing to any long-term strategy, especially with the Palestinian Authority.
However, to increase pressure on PA President Mahmoud Abbas, Netanyahu challenged the Palestinians to begin face-to-face meetings to jump-start the stalled peace process.
"Let's get it on now," the Israeli leader urged.
Netanyahu insisted that if Abbas "has the desire," such talks could begin within two weeks.
He explained that like former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, who brokered a peace with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, he, too, is "willing to take risks."
"Watch, I will confound my skeptics, but I need a partner," explained the Israeli leader.
"Israel needs to seize the moment," he added.
In that context, Netanyahu said that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak could play a central role.
"He holds a lot of influence in the Arab world," Netanyahu emphasized, adding "we need to get on with it."
The approach to peace talks "must be from the top down," asserted Netanyahu.
While Netanyahu refused to confirm reports that he told Obama a freeze on new settlements on the West Bank and Jerusalem will be renewed, he did insist that the U.S. and Israel were dealing on the same page.
The one wild card could be Iran. Netanyahu called the Islamic republic and its firebrand leader Ahmadinejad "not only a regional threat, but a world threat."
The prime minister congratulated himself by recalling his warnings of the consequences of a nuclear Iran during his first term as Israel's leader in 1996.
"Today, there is a greater understanding, a deeper understanding" of the threat posed by an Iran with nuclear bombs, he said.
Comparisons between a nuclear Iran and the old Soviet Union were "erroneous," said Netanyahu.
"I don't remember any Soviet suicide bombers. ... Despite their rhetoric, when it came to their survival, [the Soviets] were very rational. ... Can you say that about Iran?" asked the prime minister.
When quizzed if that meant Israel might seize the moment and attack Iran 's nuclear "research" centers, Netanyahu at first went quiet. He added, "I think President Obama's approach is the right one. Putting pressure on Iran through diplomatic and economic sanctions is the most effective course of action."
No reaction to Netanyahu was available from either the U.S. mission to the U.N. or the Iranian mission.
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