NETANYAHU AFRAID, IF ISRAEL WITHDRAWS, IRAN WILL MOVE IN

       Tel Aviv, 4 Rabiul Awal 1434/16 January 2013. (MINA) – Without closing the door on the possibility of future negotiations, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday reiterated his oft-stated stance that, under the current circumstances, Israel could not make peace with the Palestinians.

       In a pre-election interview with Channel 2 News, Netanyahu said that if Israel were to pull out of the West Bank, it would fall into the hands of the country’s enemies, according to the Times of Israel report received by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) Tuesday.

    “In the Middle East, the real Middle East, any territory that we evacuate will be captured by Iran,” the prime minister said. “The stronger we are, the more we will be able to guarantee our future and make peace with our neighbors.”

      In a reference to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, he added: “I’ll make peace if my interlocutor is someone who doesn’t embrace Hamas and doesn’t greet with plaudits the people who rained rockets on the country.”

      The PA president last week met with the political leader of Hamas in the latest attempt at reconciliation with the rival Islamist faction.

      Still, Netanyahu said, “if Abbas is willing to negotiate without preconditions, he’ll find me at the other end of the table.” (T/R-015/R-006)

Miraj News Agency (MINA)