Politics Takes a Right Turn in Jerusalem

What portfolio would you like?
I think I can hold every portfolio—defense, finance and Foreign Ministry. I think personally I'd like the foreign office.

Do you think you would have a problem with the international community, living in a settlement and having very hard-line views?
I've met everybody—Condoleezza Rice, Tony Blair, Javier Solana. They know me. I don't see that it would be an obstacle.

But you have George Mitchell here as the special envoy for Middle East peace, who wrote a report in 2001 calling the settlements an obstacle to peace.
We must explain to Mr. Mitchell that his … is the wrong view. [Settlements are] only one part of the problem.

If you become foreign minister in Benjamin Netanyahu's government, will you continue the peace process?
Of course, but we will put things in the right line. Not to start with a final agreement, [but] to [go] step by step. You can't start with Jerusalem or the evacuation of the settlements. You must start with the security and the economy. You must strengthen the Palestinian Authority.

Would you give up the Golan Heights to make a deal with Syria?
I don't see why we must give up the Golan Heights. Damascus is the center of world terror. All these organizations, [Islamic] Jihad and Hamas, their headquarters are in Damascus. Syria supports Hizbullah.

But there are people in your military who argue that if Israel could make a deal with Syria, perhaps you could split them off from Iran.
No, we cannot split them off. Even [Syrian] President Bashar Assad says that even if he receives the Golan Heights, he will continue his ties with Iran. People don't want to see the truth.

Do you believe the Obama administration will be as supportive of Israel as President Bush was?
We respect every American administration, every American president. We'll respect any choice [of] the American people. We expect you [to] respect any choice of the people of Israel.

But people in the United States think you are a racist. What do you say to those people?
I think they don't understand our reality …

The problem is hypocrisy. Every time people from the United States start to condemn Israel's violations of human rights, [I tell them] I'm still waiting for a congressional hearing on human rights in Saudi Arabia. After that, I'll be ready to hear about human rights in Israel, not before.

© 2009