Peres: Netanyahu no longer a rightist

President Shimon Peres tells Washington Post prime minister's agreement to two-state solution, freezing of settlements connotes shift from right-wing ideology; adds that Netanyahu is unfairly portrayed as an extremist in US

Ynet
Published: 10.24.09, 11:25 / Israel News

President Shimon Peres told the Washington Post Saturday he believed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "came from the right, but he's no longer a rightist".

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When asked whether he believed Netanyahu was being portrayed unfairly as an extremist in the US Peres answered, "He agreed to a two-state solution and to what no other prime minister ever agreed to – to freeze settlements."

The president added that he had given the prime minister advice and affected some of his decisions, though not all of them. "My advice is simple: We have to make peace. We shouldn't postpone it," he told interviewer Lally Weymouth.

Peres said he did not believe Iran would agree to a new US proposal to send most of its enriched uranium out of the country. "My impression is that they try to maneuver rather than to agree. To create an impression of an agreement without agreeing," he said.

Regarding the Islamic Republic's relations with Syria he said, "It's (Syria's) decision. They cannot have both. They cannot make peace with the country that calls to destroy us and make peace with us. They have to make up their minds. Look, governing is choosing."

The Post also published an interview with Netanyahu in which he said that "Israel is not a binational state".

"Israel has non-Jews who live here with full, equal rights, but it has two things that assure its special character. It's the homeland of any Jew. And there is a very broad consensus in Israel that the Palestinian refugee problem should be resolved outside Israel's borders," he told Weymouth.

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