Former Israeli PM ‘suspects’ Netanyahu wants to draw the US into conflict with Iran

We spoke to the former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert, who has put forward a joint plan for peace in the region, together with a former Palestinian foreign minister.

Matt Frei: Do you think that Prime Minister Netanyahu wants to draw the United States into a confrontation with Iran?

Ehud Olmert: I suspect that he does that.

Matt Frei: He does?

Ehud Olmert: Yes, I suspect.

Matt Frei: And you think that’s reckless?

Ehud Olmert: I think that’s reckless because I’m afraid that if Israel will start a war, a comprehensive war against Iran, and it will expand and Israel will not be in a very comfortable situation, America will join in to help Israel. And that is what Netanyahu believes to be the case. Therefore, he can afford himself, he thinks to do, no matter what they say, what he thinks he should do.

Matt Frei: And does that make this the most dangerous moment of a very dangerous year?

Ehud Olmert: Yes

Matt Frei: Yes?

Ehud Olmert: I’m afraid so. Yes. All together, Iran is a very aggressive, provocative power that threatens the stability of the Middle East. And something needs to be done. Well, what needs to be done needs to be done with care, with sensitivity, with responsibility and with a sense of proportion. And I’m not certain that Netanyahu wants this proportion. He looks at the leadership of the international community, the western world, and he says, who are they? I’m Bibi Netanyahu.

Matt Frei: You’re not a fan of Netanyahu, but he has changed the story. And I wonder if that is helping him in the eyes of the Israeli public?

Ehud Olmert: The pagers and the walkie-talkies, whether we assume responsibility or not, they definitely think that we did it anyway. And the assassination of, the targeting of, Nasrallah and some other leaders, these are very impressive operations which may make many Israelis very proud. And they can say, wow, Netanyahu is great. However, they’re not gamechangers.

Matt Frei: Would you have ordered the killing of Hassan Nasrallah?

Ehud Olmert: Yes. He killed thousands of people. He was responsible for the killing of thousands of people.

Matt Frei: So that is a good thing that Netanyahu has done?

Ehud Olmert: Yeah, not everything that he does is bad. Everything – almost everything – that he says is bad.

Matt Frei: Do you think that the events of the last few weeks, though, have changed Israel’s position and the way it’s seen by the rest of the world?

Ehud Olmert: I mean, we have to look at the strategy. What is the strategy of the state of Israel? What does Netanyahu want? What is he going to achieve and what is the cost of achieving what he wants?

Matt Frei: Has the cost of fighting this war against Hamas – measured on the Palestinian side and thousands upon thousands of lives, many of them innocent women and children – has that cost isolated Israel too much and made you therefore more vulnerable?

Ehud Olmert: I’m afraid, yes. Question is – whether at some point we didn’t allow the rage to obsess us beyond a certain restraint in the certain point where it was counter-productive. We should have limited ourselves to the point beyond which the extent, the intensity, the numbers, would be counter-productive to the perception of what Israel is all about.