Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told an interviewer Sunday that Iran's nuclear program could probably not be stopped by sanctions.
On Fox News Sunday, interviewer Chris Wallace reminded Netanyahu that CIA Director Leon Panetta had estimated that the latest UN sanctions against Iran would “probably not” deter its ambition to develop nuclear weapons. Netanyahu responded by saying, “He's probably right. I can tell you one thing, that Iran is closer to developing nuclear weapons today than it was a week ago or a month ago or a year ago. It's just moving on... with its efforts.”
“There's only been one time that Iran actually stopped the [nuclear] program and that was when it feared US military action,” Netanyahu continued. “So... when the president says that he is determined to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and that all options are on the table, I think that's the right statement of policy.”
Netanyahu avoided a direct answer to a question regarding the possible extension of the ten-month freeze on construction for Jews in Judea and Samaria and reiterated his invitation to the Palestinian Authority to enter direct talks. “Now we're asked to make an extension of this [freeze],” he said. “Look, I think this is... the wrong approach. I think we should eliminate all these preconditions and all these excuses and all those demands for entering into direct talks. We should just get into them.”
Regarding the current state of relations between the United States and Israel after his recent meetings with President Barack Obama, Netanyahu said, “I think if anyone thought that there was a change of US policy, or daylight, between Israel and the United States on these questions, I think [Obama] did a lot to lay that to rest.”