Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said in an interview with the United States Foreign Policy magazine He said that with a new nuclear deal with Iran can live.
But Gantz said he doubted diplomacy would curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions. That’s why he would like to see the US come up with what the secretary calls a “viable US-led Plan B” consisting of political, diplomatic, and economic pressure from the US, Europe, Russia and China on Tehran if the nuclear talks fail.
“Israel is unable to lead Plan B. We cannot establish an international economic sanctions regime. The United States should do that.” Iran should fear that the United States and its partners mean it.
But Israel has a plan C, which is military action. “When it comes to it, we have to,” he said, adding that while Israel cannot be compared to the military might of the United States, the Israeli military has the capabilities it needs.
Asked about Israel’s ongoing conflict with the Palestinians and its potential solutions, Gantz said that Jewish settlements would not be removed from the West Bank. But, he said, “we need two political entities here.”
The Biden administration supports a two-state solution to the conflict. A position that the US President reiterated during his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett last month.
Gantz met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last week, during which a number of initiatives were taken to improve the lives of residents of the West Bank. The defense minister described improving dialogue with the Palestinians as “a value of paramount importance.”
“Abbas is still dreaming of the 1967 lines” [als basis voor een Israëlische terugtrekking uit de Westelijke Jordaanoever en een einde aan het conflict] – This will not happen, ”Gantz said in the interview.
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