FOX NEWS CHANNEL "ON THE RECORD" INTERVIEW WITH DANIEL AYALON, ISRAELI DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER INTERVIEWER: GRETA VAN SUSTEREN
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2009
MS. VAN SUSTEREN: Two blunt questions that must be answered: Can Iran be stopped from going nuclear? And what happens if Iran pushes forward with its program no matter what? Days from now on October 1st, the face-to-face talk begins. Iran is set to negotiate with the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. And regardless of what Iran says, can Israel ever feel safe? Joining us live is Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon.
Good evening, sir.
MR. AYALON: Thank you, Greta. Good to be here.
MS. VAN SUSTEREN: Nice to see you. How in the world can Israel ever feel safe in this? I don't get it, because this man, Ahmadinejad, has said he wants to wipe your country right off the globe.
MR. AYALON: Well, Israel is quite capable of defending itself. But certainly, if Iran becomes nuclear, it becomes a threat, an existential threat not just to Israel but for the entire globe, because its program is such, you know, big in scope with global reach, coupled with very dangerous, radical policy that they have. And they have professed ambitions which they do not even bother to hide, which is really to turn around the Middle East to an Iranian hegemony, to go even beyond.
And we know that they are very aggressive in trying to penetrate, whether it's in Latin America. And today, unfortunately, they have a friend and ally like Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. They're trying also to push in Africa. And also, we know how they are supporting very actively terror organizations, whether it's the Hizbullah, Hamas, Islamic jihad.
So if Iran, God forbid, becomes nuclear, I think the world order will not be as we know it. The danger will be really something which cannot be imagined. And Iran must be stopped, and I believe it can be stopped.
MS. VAN SUSTEREN: But here's the thing. The last thing I want to do is suggest or provoke or say there should be a war. But the more that Iran keeps sort of talking and sort of almost, you know, amusing other nations with its discussion, gives them more time, gives them more capability. And I suspect that Israel is very carefully watching everything having to do with Iran. But Iran just went racing up to Russia recently to buy the S-300 missiles so that it can protect any of its nuclear installations.
So you know, time is not on your side. And the more that Iran can sit and talk, the more it has a chance to develop everything it intends to do against your country.
MR. AYALON: No, time is not on our side. And this is not particularly Israel but the entire international community. You mentioned, Greta, the S-300. I want to believe that Russia will continue to be a very responsible country. And you know, they do have a commitment to prevent Iran from becoming nuclear. Certainly such a sophisticated defense system will make Iran much more bolder and encourage them to continue what they're doing now. And I think it is very clear --
MS. VAN SUSTEREN: But see, that's the curious thing. If Russia is so committed to these talks on October 1st, why in the world are they selling Iran these missiles to protect themselves presumably from people coming in and taking out any of their nuclear programs? I mean, that's the very purpose is to shoot down something that's going to come in and try to take out their nuclear program.
MR. AYALON: Well, absolutely. But Greta, I'm not aware of the fact that they are indeed selling them to the Iranians. We have been engaged with very intense talks with the Russians, so was the American administration here. And I hope we will not be in a position where we really have to deal with such a real dangerous development which can only go south if Iran indeed will have the capabilities to defend its nuclear installations and feel, as I say, impugned from any consequence that should be emitted to her.
But also, I wanted to emphasize here, there is a very easy way to stop the Iranians if indeed the world will come together. Iran, with all the bravado, is a very vulnerable country. We have witnessed its vulnerability in the realm of politics and the social areas after the elections of there and the brutal clash of these riots.
But also economically, they will not be able to sustain effective sanctions more than a few weeks. And once there is a price tag to their flagrant violations of all the commitments and the demands from the international community, I believe then they will have the dilemma and not us how to stop them. And I do believe that this ayatollah in Tehran will not want to collapse or risk their well-being. So this is why the threat of sanctions, I can guarantee you, will be very effective if indeed the international community can come together and make this happen.
MS. VAN SUSTEREN: And I'm hopeful that sanctions work. I'm also very hopeful that the meeting on October 1st is very successful as well.
All right, let me turn to another question, the construction in the West Bank. President Obama wants that to stop. We only have about 30 seconds left. But it doesn't look like that's going to stop.
MR. AYALON: Well, we would like to move forward, and we have limited the construction there in a very significant way. We don't want to allow any excuses for the Palestinians not to come forward. But they need to meet us half way, and there are a lot of obligations on their part. Firstly, to dismantle and outlaw all the terror organizations that still exist there, to collect illegal weapons and indeed to meet us half way diplomatically.
This has not been the case. We have always, since this government was installed, called on Abu Mazen to meet with us. We are ready to meet with him without preconditions. And I hope this will be the case on their part as well. So far, we do not see any relent on their part or its organizations and also coexistence in a peaceful way.
MS. VAN SUSTEREN: Deputy Foreign Minister, always nice to see you, sir.
MR. AYALON: Thank you, Greta. Good to be here.