Peres Interview Highlights

The Telegraph interviewed President Shimon Peres and discussed topics ranging from Gaza to Iran.  Here are some of my favorite highlights:

On Operation Cast Lead and Israel’s Wars:

We didn’t initiate it (the war in Gaza). We never went to war on our own initiative. We were attacked, in 61 years nine times, with fully pledged wars and endless terrorist attacks. But if a terrorist does not respect the lives of children, the children of ours and their own children, if they don’t respect the lives of civilians, our civilians and their own civilians, and they don’t respect mosques and they don’t respect ambulances what can the law do?

We suffered less victims than the Arabs – it’s true – because we defend our people and they exploit their people. That’s the difference. We have shelters and take care of their children. They don’t. They use mosques to hide arms, they use ambulances to carry terrorists. My God! And you know even in that war there were 250,000 telephone calls to all the houses before they were attacked. We asked them to leave. We tried to do whatever we can. We lost many lives because we tried to avoid casualties.

On Gaza:

They talk of occupied Gaza? What occupation? We took out our army. We took out our settlers and some of you watched on television how difficult it was and of course it was. Nobody forced us. We handed it over to the Palestinians and for eight years they fired missiles against our civilian life. Can anybody tell me why? Can anybody tell me what was the purpose of it? And Israel restrained and restrained and restrained until the citizens told the government, can’t you defend our lives?

And on nuclear weapons:

Israel never said that we were introducing nuclear bombs. We don’t mind the suspicion because we think it is a deterrent. That’s what we wanted to achieve, a deterrent. Our policy is to have a deterrent because we are being threatened. You know Amr Moussa who is now the secretary general of the (Arab League) and the former foreign minister of Egypt. We had very friendly relations. One day he told me Shimon we are such good friends, why don’t you take me to Dimona (a city where Israel’s nuclear programme is believed to be based) and we can have a look what you are doing there.

I told him are you crazy? You’ll come to Dimona and you’ll discover there is nothing there. Then you’ll become dangerous. I don’t mind that you are suspicious. It serves us.

We never declared and never said we want to have nuclear bombs. But on other hand if you can achieve deterrence by suspicion it’s not a bad situation.