(Communicated by the Office of the President)

The President of the State of Israel, Shimon Peres, gave an hour long interview to Galei Tzahal (IDF Radio) in which he addressed the situation in Syria, negotiations with the Palestinians and the situation in the wider Middle East. President Peres also addressed domestic issues including Israel's education system, discrimination within the country and his role as president. The full interview (in Hebrew) is available on the Galei Tzahal website.
 
On the situation in Syria President Peres expressed his support for President Obama and said, "I have full faith in President Obama's moral and operational stance. I recommend patience, I am confident that the United States will respond in the right way to Syria. Thoughtfulness should not be confused with indecision, better to analyse before the event rather than after it. I trust President Obama. There is no one Syria anymore. Syria as it was is no longer. Assad cannot unite Syria, there are three or four countries in one."

On Israel's position regarding Syria the President said, "It is not for Israel to decide on Syria, we are in a unique position, for varying reasons there is consensus against Israeli involvement. We did not create the Syrian situation."

President Peres was asked whether he had faith in President Obama's stance on Iran and said, "I have faith in him when it comes to all issues regarding Israel. Iran is a key global interest  which impacts upon the peace of the entire world, it not just an Israeli issue. I do not believe he will allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons. I also don't believe the Russians want that, it's a complex issue but no-one wants to allow nuclear weapons."

President Peres responded to a question about the Oslo accords and the current peace negotiations and said, "The people of Israel want peace, peace and security. It is difficult to achieve them both and it takes time. Israel can achieve peace and security, the two are connected. Oslo was the right decision, without it we would be in a terrible situation. Without Oslo there would have been one Arab camp, an enemy camp. There would be no Abu Mazen, there would be no-one to sit with. Instead we have Abu Mazen who says he doesn't want to return to Safed and to Jaffa, who says he is in favor of peace, who is in favor of a Jewish state. Prime Minister Netanyahu took a difficult decision, to start negotiations and I respect that. I don't believe he took it as an isolated step, he decided upon two states and no less important he decided against a bi-national state."