Defense Minister Ehud Barak
Photo: Dudu Azoulay
Barak: Palestinians missing out on huge opportunity
Defense minister tells New York Times Palestinians not taking advantage of US president's resolve to solve conflict, adds US should handle North Korean nuclear threat before focusing on Iran
Defense Minister Ehud Barak criticized Palestinian hardheadedness Monday and warned that they may miss out on a "huge opportunity" for peace with Israel. Surprisingly, he also said the US should focus on the nuclear threat from North Korea before Iran.
“I fear the Palestinians are going to miss a huge opportunity,” Barak told the New York Times by phone. “There is a president who says determinedly, ‘I am going to put my political capital into making sure there is an independent Palestinian state and solve all the core issues in two years'."
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Barak added, "If we bear in mind Israel’s security needs and the demand that a final agreement means an end to the conflict, this is an opportunity that must not be missed."
He said the US should focus on eradicating the nuclear threat by North Korea before focusing on Iran, as the latter would be affected by the former.
“North Korea is developing long-range missiles in the backyard of China and Russia and nothing happens to them,” Barak said.
“When the Iranian leadership asks themselves, ‘Should we be worried or just go through the ritual of defying and cheating?’ the answer depends on what happens to North Korea. A coherent move toward blocking nuclear proliferation should start with North Korea. It would have very positive ramifications for blocking Iran.”
Barak was also dismissive of a prevalent comparison made between Iran and Nazism. “I don’t buy the relevance of comparing the situation with that of Europe in 1938,” he said. “Then, the hope for a normal Jew looking into the future was to flee. We are not in such a situation. We can defend ourselves against any kind of threat.”
