Following are excerpts from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s first international interview (Thursday, 19 March) since re-election, with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell.
The excerpts refer to reports that the prime minister had changed his policy on the two-state solution, as well as to his comments on foreign funding used to bring out supporters of the Joint Arab List party.
Andrea Mitchell:
[Congratulates the prime minister and questions him about his supposed “hard-turn right” on the Palestinian issue and his statement on Arab-Israeli voters.]
PM Benjamin Netanyahu:
“The premises in your questions are wrong. I haven’t changed my policy. I never retracted my speech at Bar-Ilan University six years ago calling for a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes a Jewish state.
What has changed is the reality. Abu Mazen [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas], the Palestinian leader, refuses to recognize the Jewish state. He’s made a pact with Hamas who calls for the destruction of the Jewish state. And every territory that is vacated today in the Middle East is taken up by Islamist forces. We want that to change, so that we can realize a vision of real, sustained peace.
And I don’t want, I don’t want a one-state solution. I want a sustainable, peaceful two-state solution, but for that, circumstances have to change.”
Mitchell:
[Asks about the election and the two-state solution, as well as the US administration’s position on a UN vote on Palestinian statehood.]
Netanyahu:
“Well, first of all, that state would become a terrorist state. Iran says that it will arm the West Bank the way they arm Gaza. We withdrew from Gaza. We got - just a few months ago, not ancient history, but a few months ago - thousands of rockets, Andrea, on our heads and I don’t want it to happen again.
And I think the [US] administration has said time and time again that the only way to achieve peace is a negotiated solution. You can’t impose peace.
In any case, if you want to get peace, you’ve got to get the Palestinian leadership to abandon their pact with Hamas and engage in genuine negotiations with Israel for an achievable peace.
We also have to make sure that we don’t have ISIS coming into that territory. It’s only two dozen miles away from our border. Thousands of miles away from yours.
So we need the conditions of recognition of a Jewish state and real security in order to have a realistic two-state solution.
And I was talking about what is achievable and what is not achievable. To make it achievable, then you have to have real negotiations with people who are committed to peace. We are. It’s time that we saw the pressure on the Palestinians to show that they are committed too.”
Mitchell:
[Summarizes opinions expressed by American commentators, including about the PM’s comments on Arab-Israeli voters and a Palestinian state.]
Netanyahu:
“Well, I explained on the Palestinian state what it is we need. We need a demilitarized state that recognizes a Jewish state. [Short crosstalk.]
But on Arab voters, I think it’s important, it’s very, very important. [Short crosstalk.] First of all, I’m very proud to be the prime minister of all of Israel’s citizens, Arabs and Jews alike.”
Mitchell:
“That’s not the way it sounded on election day.”
Netanyahu:
“If you hear what I said, you might reconsider what you just said and what you quoted.
I’m very proud of the fact that Israel is the one county in a very broad radius in which Arabs have free and fair elections. That’s sacrosanct, that will never change.
I met a few days ago with the Arab supporters, the many Arab supporters of Likud. I met them in the north of the country and I said: ‘Look, I’m concerned with a massive foreign funded effort, massive foreign money…”
Mitchell:
“Which foreign money, US money?”
Netanyahu:
“Big NGOs that are coming in here with foreign money. It’s all over the place.”
Mitchell:
“You said tens of millions of dollars.”
Netanyahu:
“Well, definitely millions, and I said it looks like maybe tens of millions of dollars. That are coming in to try….”
Mitchell:
“From America?”
Netanyahu:
“Among other places. Foreign funders, that’s important.
But what has happened is that, I said that they would try to get out the votes for a specific party, an amalgamation of Islamists and other anti-Israel groups. And I said when that happens, make sure we get out our vote.
I wasn’t trying to suppress a vote, I was trying to get something to counter a foreign funded effort to get votes that are intended to topple my party. And I was calling on our voters to come out. And by the way, quite a few of them, we got quite a few Arab voters for the Likud and I’m very proud of that.
In any case, my governments have funded billions, billions into the Arab communities to try to upgrade infrastructure, schools, and I will continue to do that, I will continue to do that, in my government, to have real integration of Arab citizens of Israel into the Israeli economy, Israeli high-tech, Israeli society, medicine. In all those areas, my commitment is real and that will stay real...”