Quotation from Benyamin Netanyahu “America... you can easily manoeuver and move in the right direction” — 2001

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BN : Today, everyone understand the slogan « The settlements are here ». It is everywhere. What is the difference ? What do you think Arafat wants ? He wants one big settlement that is called Tel Aviv. As far as they are concerned, I think, the territorial waters are also theirs. That they want us to be pushed into the sea is obvious, but only further away… The main thing is, first of all, to strike them, not once but several times, so painfully that the price they pay will be unbearable. So far, the price-tag is not unbearable. [I mean] a large scale attack on the Palestinian Authority, causing them to fear that everything is about to collapse. Fear is what brings them to…
Settler : Hold on, but then again, the world will say that we are agressors.
BN : They can say whatever they want
Settler : Aren’t you afraid of what they’ll say, Bibi ?
BN : No - especially today, with the US. I know how they are. America is something you can easily manoeuver and move in the right direction. And even if they say something… So then they say something. So what ? 80 % Americans support us ! It’s absurd ! We have such support there, and here we are thinking what we should do « if ». Look, I wasn’t afraid to maneuver [the Clinton administration]. I wasn’t afraid to confront Clinton. I wasn’t afraid to go against the UN.
Settler : What happened with the Oslo accords ?
BN : The Accords, which were ratified by Parliament, I was asked before the (1996) elections : « Will you fulfill them ? » I said : « Yes, subject to reciprocity and minimizing pull-outs ». But how one can minimize the [obliged] pull-outs ? I gave my own interpretation of the agreements, in such a way that will show me to stop the race back toward the 1967 borders. How did I manage to do this ? Nobody decided what « Military Facilities » are. So I also defined them as being security zones. The entire Jordan valley, for me, is a « Military Facility ». Nobody has…
Settler : Yes, like the Bet She’an valley.

BN : You see, go figure. But there there was the question of who defines these « Military Facilities » ? I received a letter from (Secretary od State Warren) Christopher to me and to Arafat at the same time, saying that Israel, and Israel alone, will define the « Military Facilities », their locations and size. Now, they didn’t want to give this letter so I refused to ratify the Hebron Accords (of 1997), I stopped the government meeting and I said « I won’t sign ». And only when the letter has arrived, during that meeting, to me and to Arafat, I signed the Hebron Accords. Or ratified it, if to be exact, it was already signed. Why is this important ? Because at that very moment, in fact, I halted the fulfillment of the Olso agreements. It’s better to give 2 % than 100 % and this is the choice we are facing. You gave 2 %, but you stopped the withdrawal, rather than 100 %. The wisdom is not to be there and break, but rather to be there and pay the minimum.

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