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Netanyahu: Indirect talks in Cairo about security not peace

September 25, 2014 at 10:42 am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed on Wednesday that the indirect talks currently underway with the Palestinian factions in Cairo are focussed only on security issues and the main aim for Israel is to disarm the resistance fighters in the Gaza Strip.

Speaking to Israel Hayom newspaper to mark the Rosh Hashanah Jewish holiday, Netanyahu said: “First of all, these are negotiations on security issues, not peace negotiations.”

He added: “I was careful to ensure that this delegation focuses solely on security. I did not include my peace envoy, attorney Yitzhak Molcho, and none of the [Cabinet] ministers.”

Commenting to the Jerusalem Post newspaper, Netanyahu further explained that: “The real issue is whether we can ensure Israel’s vital security interests, and enable the reconstruction of Gaza and humanitarian assistance under our security requirements. That, I think, will be the focus of what will be discussed, and certainly the focus of our current policies.”

Arabs48 news website reported him as describing the indirect talks as successful. “Naturally, we have demands of our own, and we have the necessary tenacity to reject any demands the other side might make that we find unacceptable. We have been doing so successfully,” he said.

According to the news website, Netanyahu also pointed out that he did not go for a wider ground operation in Gaza fearing a longer war with a greater number of causalities.

“I refrained from getting dragged into [Gaza],” he explained, “otherwise, we would have found ourselves fighting not a 50-day war, but a 500-day one, and the heavy toll would have included more than just human lives, but other casualties as well.”

He said that disarming the Palestinians resistance fighters would be very hard and he doubted whether or not he could achieve this goal soon. “[Demilitarising] remains an objective. Will this objective be agreed upon and achieved soon? I find that hard to believe.”

When asked if he expected a “bad deal” between the West and Iran regarding its nuclear programme, he replied: “I am certainly concerned by that. There are indications that [world] powers might agree to accept Iran as a nuclear-threshold state.”