PM: I'm not interfering in US presidential election
By HERB KEINON The Jerusalem Post 09/14/2012 07:38
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=285089

In interview with the 'Post', Netanyahu says his call for US to set red
lines for Iran not connected to US election.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu dismissed as “completely groundless”
allegations he is manufacturing a crisis with US President Barack Obama just
before the November 6 American election to influence the outcome in favor of
Republican candidate Mitt Romney.

Netanyahu, in a Rosh Hashana interview with The Jerusalem Postthat will
appear in full on Sunday, said his call for the United States and the
international community to set red lines for Iran was not at all connected
with the US political campaign.

“It has nothing to do with the American elections, because the Iranian
nuclear program doesn’t care about the American political calendar,” the
prime minister said.

“If the centrifuges stop miraculously, if they stop preparing enriched
uranium to make atomic bombs, then I suppose I wouldn’t have to speak out.

“But the Iranian nuclear program proceeds unabated and they don’t care about
the internal American political calendar. For me this is a policy issue, a
security issue, and not a political issue,” he said.

Netanyahu characterized his post-midnight telephone call Wednesday with
Obama as a “good conversation.”

“We spoke about our common goal of stopping Iran from developing its nuclear
weapons program, and our desire to closely coordinate our efforts,” he
related.

When asked whether Obama referred to his comments that those who do not
place red lines in front of the Iranians cannot place a red light in front
of Israel, Netanyahu replied that he was “not going to get into details of
this discussion.

“Obviously I have my views and am not exactly shy about expressing them when
I think that Israel’s vital security concerns are involved,” Netanyahu said.
“This is my responsibility as the prime minister of the Jewish state.

We are facing the greatest security challenge of any country on the face of
the earth, and when I feel I need to speak out, I do.”

'When we have differences of opinion we don't sweep them under the rug'

Obama phoned Netanyahu past midnight Wednesday following a day when friction
between Jerusalem and Washington burst into the open as Netanyahu made his
comments about red lines and red lights. Just before the phone call, Israeli
officials confirmed that the leaders would not be meeting during Netanyahu’s
60-hour visit to the US later this month.

Netanyahu, who described the current level of intelligence and security
cooperation with the US as “very close” and “very important,” said that did
not mean the two countries did not have different perspectives.

“It is only natural that we do,” he said. “And when we have a difference of
views we don’t have to sweep them under the rug. I believe there has to be
clear limits drawn to Iran’s advance toward nuclear weapons, and that is not
something I intend to be quiet about.”

On other matters, Netanyahu revealed that he has not yet spoken to Egyptian
President Mohamed Morsy, though he said Israel had “many contacts with the
Egyptian government, primarily through our military contacts.”

He said that the new Egyptian government still needed to “decide the depth
of its commitment to the peace treaty. We are deeply committed to it, I hope
they will be too.”

'It's In Israel and Turkey's common interest to resume a fruitful dialogue'

The prime minister also used the interview to send a conciliatory signal to
Turkey.

“We both have a border with Syria, and I am sure we both want to see a
stable and peaceful Syria,” he said of Ankara. “That is a common interest.
There are other common interests that come to mind. I think it is in our
common interest to find a way to be able to stop – to arrest – the slide in
our relationship and resume a fruitful dialogue.”

Turkish-Israeli ties nosedived after the Mavi Marmara flotilla raid in 2010,
and Turkey is demanding Israel apologize for the incident, pay compensation
to the families of the nine people killed, and lift the blockade of Gaza.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman – who has been staunchly opposed to an
Israeli apology to Turkey – said two weeks ago that he “could live” with an
apology similar to what the Americans gave the Pakistanis after accidentally
killing two dozen Pakistani soldiers in 2011. The Americans said that were
“sorry for the losses suffered by the Pakistani military.”

Asked whether that was an apology formula currently being considered,
Netanyahu replied: “It is one of them.”

He would not discuss, however, whether the Turks had backed off from their
demand for Israel to lift the naval blockade of Gaza, something few believe
this government would ever consider as part of a reconciliation package.