http://www.weeklystandard.com/print/blogs/obama-fundamental-misjudgment-require-iran-recognize-israel-part-deal_911042.htmlObama: 'Fundamental Misjudgment' to Require Iran to Recognize Israel as Part of Deal
Daniel Halper
April 6, 2015 5:19 PM
In an interview with National Public Radio, President Obama said that it would be a "fundamental misjudgment" to require that Iran recognize the Jewish state of Israel as part of the nuclear deal. The condition, rejected by Obama, was one that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested: A "clear and unambiguous Iranian commitment of Israel's right to exist," as Netanyahu framed it.
"The notion that we would condition Iran not getting nuclear weapons in a verifiable deal on Iran recognizing Israel is really akin to saying that we won't sign a deal unless the nature of the Iranian regime completely transforms," President Obama told NPR, responding to Netanyahu's request.
"And that is, I think, a fundamental misjudgment. I want to return to this point: We want Iran not to have nuclear weapons precisely because we can't bank on the nature of the regime changing. That's exactly why we don't want to have nuclear weapons. If suddenly Iran transformed itself to Germany or Sweden or France then there would be a different set of conversations about their nuclear infrastructure."
