PM: Obama’s positions on Iran did not encourage me

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his meeting with President Barack Obama on Wednesday had not assuaged his concerns over US policy on the Iranian nuclear threat.

In an interview with Channel 10 news recorded just before Yom Kippur and broadcast SAturday, Netanyahu said that while the US and Israel agree that Iran must be prevented from building nuclear weapons, the two nations have differences over the severity of limitations that must be placed upon the Islamic republic by the international community.

“We both want to prevent Iran from being a nuclear-armed nation, but I say that’s not enough,” Netanyahu said, explaining that he was worried about Tehran’s ability to implement a “breakout” scenario: “They throw out the inspectors, engage all the centrifuges, and produce enough enriched uranium to create the core of a nuclear bomb… That’s something that must be prevented.”

Asked whether the meeting with the American leader had encouraged him on this front, the premier answered that he “can’t say so.”

However, he stressed that the two had “a very good meeting” and a “very genuine” one, and that he had expressed Israel’s concerns “in a manner that is unequivocal.”

The meeting between the two leaders on Wednesday was overshadowed by a diplomatic row that broke out soon afterwards, when the White House and State Department both stridently criticized Israel for approving plans to build 2,610 homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Givat Hamatos, saying the move would “draw condemnation from the international community, distance Israel from even its closest allies [and] poison the atmosphere.”

White House spokesman Josh Earnest also condemned a recent step by a right-wing group to move Israelis into seven homes in an Arab neighborhood of the capital in the dead of night. “The US condemns the recent occupation of residential buildings in the neighborhood of Silwan by people whose agenda provokes tensions,” Earnest said. “It only serves to escalate tensions.”

Israel quickly dismissed the criticism, with Netanyahu later Wednesday implying that the US had jumped to incorrect conclusions about the intended neighborhood, which is intended to include housing for Arabs and Jews. “It’s worth learning the information properly before deciding to take a position like that,” he told reporters.

The premier referenced the issue again in Saturday’s interview, calling the American position “unacceptable.”

“I think this position is wrong. I think this position [is what] pushes away peace and coexistence,” he said. He was adamant that Jews would not be limited in where they can live. “As the prime minister of the Jewish state, I cannot accept that in the capital of Israel Jews cannot buy apartments,” he said.

The US has said it was in full position of the facts when it issued the criticism, and stood by it.

For all the strong language in the Washington statements, US insiders said following the media feud that the administration was not interested in turning the issue into a full-blown crisis.

“If the president wanted to make an issue of it, he would have made a public remark,” said Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Institute and veteran peace negotiator in the administrations of George HW Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W Bush.

Miller described the comments US officials as “an empty gesture,” explaining that “neither Netanyahu nor Obama want to fight right now.”

Rebecca Shimoni Stoil contributed to this report.