During his visit to the U.S. President Peres discussed strategic
challenges in the Middle East with U.S. Secretary State Clinton.
During his visit to the United States, where he received the Medal of
Freedom, President Shimon Peres discussed strategic challenges in the
Middle East, in a special session with U.S. Secretary State Hillary
Clinton.
The event, held on Tuesday at the Brookings Institute, was hosted by
former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin S. Indyk.
In regards to Syria, Clinton said that “we continue to support Kofi
Annan’s efforts, and we do so because he represents both the United
Nations and the Arab League.”
She noted that “the red line for us was the inclusion of Iran [in the
implementation of Annan’s plan]. We thought that would be a grave
error since we know that Iran is not only supporting the Assad
regime, but actively mentoring, leading, encouraging not merely the
regular army, but the militias that are springing up, engaging in
sectarian conflict.
“So we have a timeline in mind to see whether or not this effort of
Kofi’s can be successful,” she added. “The outer limit of that is mid-
July when the Security Council has to decide whether or not to extend
the mission. And certainly, if there is no discernible movement by
then, it will be very difficult to extend a mission that is
increasingly dangerous for the observers on the ground.”
She added, “We have confronted the Russians about stopping their
continued arms shipments to Syria. They have, from time to time, said
that we shouldn’t worry; everything they’re shipping is unrelated to
their actions internally. That’s patently untrue. And we are
concerned about the latest information we have that there are attack
helicopters on the way from Russia to Syria, which will escalate the
conflict quite dramatically.”
Peres said that the bravery of the Syrian people “is admirable and
unbelievable. People are facing fire every day, a dictator that kills
children. For me, the most shocking photo is to see a small coffin
and a dead child in it. I can’t stand it. People are reluctant to
say, ‘Well, if Assad will go, we don’t have an alternative.’ My
answer: Assad stopped to be an alternative. Even if there is no
alternative, he’s neither an alternative.
“The leaders of the world, and what can Russians do? The Russians
will be finally accused of intervening,” he added. “They may be
admired in Syria, but they are creating a great deal of opposition in
the rest of the Arab world. So no single country can do it without
being accused. The Arab League should and can do it. And if you ask
for my advice, this should be the right policy.”
Regarding the peace process, Peres said, “I think now it is the time
to make peace with the Palestinians. The Israeli Government has a
wider base. The Palestinians understand that not everything which was
happening in the Arab Spring is necessarily bringing them time,
because one of the important thing about the Arab Spring is the Arab
youngsters understand that their situation is not a result of the
conflict between us and the Palestinians. They know that reform
begins at home. What’s happening in Syria has nothing to do with
Israel. What happened in Tunisia has nothing to do with Israel, or
Libya. And I think we should let the Arabs reform their lives and
stop using the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as an excuse.”
The session also dealt with Iran, and Peres said, “What revolts the
world against Iran is that in the 21st century, the Iranian leaders,
not the Iranian people, are the only one that wants to renew
imperialism – we can’t accept it – in the name of religion. From
that, it started. That’s the reason why many Arabs are against not
Iran, but the Iranian hegemony. The Iranians don’t say the hegemony
should be Arabic, because they’re not Arabs. So they want to say it
Muslim, because they’re Muslims.
“And we see the way they want to construct an empire – by terror, by
sending money, sending arms, hanging, bluffing. We cannot support it.
The world cannot support it, whether you are a Russian – I am
speaking in – with Putin and Medvedev to say we cannot support a
nuclear Iran. Now, if Iran will win, the whole Middle East will
become the victim. Actually, the world economy will become the
victim, because the way they rule is without any regard to anybody
else. And this is the first problem. We cannot allow it to happen –
all of us.”
