Ahmadinejad tells Stephanopoulos: I Accept Two State Solution

From The Israel Policy Forum

Ahmadinejad tells Stephanopoulos: I Accept Two State Solution (Full Transcript of Interview)
MJ Rosenberg
Washington Director of Policy Analysis,
Israel Policy Forum
Posted April 26, 2009 - 7:09am
Washington, April 26

This is big news. George Stephanopoulos interviews President Ahmadinejad on “This Week” today and the Iranian President tells him that if the Palestinians and Israelis come to terms, he will accept Israel. Here is the relevant passage.

STEPHANOPOULOS: "If the Palestinians sign an agreement with Israel, will Iran support it?"

AHMADINEJAD: "Whatever decision they take is fine with us. We are not going to determine anything. Whatever decision they take, we will support that. We think that this is the right of the Palestinian people, however we fully expect other states to do so as well: the U.S. administration, European governments. The right to determine their fate by the Palestinians should be respected by all of them."

Ahmadinejad’s statement is his reponse to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s demand that he will only engage in negotiations with the Palestinians if Iran’s anti-Israel stance and nuclear program are addressed first, an approach the Obama administration rejects. It believes that implementing the two-state solution must come first because resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will, in itself, help address the Iranian threat.

Ahmadinejad throws the ball back in Israel’s court. Make peace with the Palestinians and I’ll accept it, and you, too, he says.

This statement will strengthen Obama’s hand with Netanyahu. The neocons always want Ahmadinejad to play theiir game and promise to rain destruction on Israel. This time Ahmadinejad refused to play.

Obama’s approach seems to be making a differemce.

Michael Steele on 'This Week'

Can't find the embed code, but here's the VIDEO LINK.

Transcript from the money section:

STEELE: You've got to look at what's going to create sustainable jobs. What this administration is talking about is making work. It is creating work.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But that's a job.

STEELE: No, it's not a job. A job is something that -- that a business owner creates. It's going to be long term. What he's creating...

STEPHANOPOULOS: So a job doesn't count if it's a government job?

(CROSSTALK)

STEELE: Hold on. No, let me -- let me -- let me finish. That is a contract. It ends at a certain point, George. You know that. These road projects that we're talking about have an end point.

As a small-business owner, I'm looking to grow my business, expand my business. I want to reach further. I want to be international. I want to be national. It's a whole different perspective on how you create a job versus how you create work. And I'm -- either way, the bottom line is...

STEPHANOPOULOS: I guess I don't really understand that distinction.

STEELE: Well, the difference -- the distinction is this. If a government -- if you've got a government contract that is a fixed period of time, it goes away. The work may go away. That's -- there's no guarantee that that -- that there's going to be more work when you're done in that job.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Yes, but we've seen millions and millions of jobs going away in the private sector just in the last year.

STEELE: But they come -- yes, they -- and they come back, though, George. That's the point. When they go -- they've gone away before, and they come back.