US to Israel: Peace deal with Palestinians would reduce 'Iranian threat'

US to Israel:

Peace deal with Palestinians would reduce 'Iranian threat'

Date: 16 / 04 / 2009 Time: 11:12
Bethlehem – Ma'an –

The US is attempting to persuade Israel that making peace with Palestinians and its Arab neighbors will reduce the perceived threat of Iran’s nuclear program.

According to the Hebrew-language newspaper Yediot Aharonot on Thursday US President Barack Obama is considering conditioning US support for Israel vis-à-vis Iran to a withdrawal of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The report states that in a recent meeting with Jewish leaders in Washington, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel predicted that there would be an agreement between Palestinians and Israelis based on the two-state solution within the next four years.

Analysts say that Israel desires normalized relations with Arab states in order to stabilize its position in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Iran has had a mixed relationship with Arab countries since its Islamic Revolution in 1979. Iraq, backed by the Arab Gulf states, fought a war with Iran from 1980 to 1988.

Israel currently has full diplomatic relations with only two Arab states: Egypt and Jordan. Mauritania expelled its Israeli ambassador in March over the Israeli war on Gaza.

Separately on Wednesday evening US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said in a speech to Marine Corps students that an Israeli strike against Iran would "cement their determination to have a nuclear program, and also build into the whole country an undying hatred of whoever hits them.”

Obama’s envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, met with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Thursday Morning. During the meeting he was expected to ask Lieberman to clarify his position on the resumption of peace talks with the Palestinian Authority and Syria.

Lieberman and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have refused to commit to peace negotiations based on the aim of an independent Palestinian state.

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