Ambassador Zalman Shoval

What is your assessment of the current political situation of Israel vis a vis Iran?

According to the official reports, as well as unofficial leaks, from the International Atomic Energy Agency it seems that the Iranians are going on and making progress in the nuclear effort. Today, there is even an item in the media; that they are working on nuclear bomb, which will be three times as powerful as the one that Americans dropped on Hiroshima. We hope, but we are not very confident or we are very sanguine about it, but we hope that the Obama administration, the US administration, will live up to its commitment to stop the Iranians getting the bomb before it is too late. Few months ago there was tremendous debate going on, the controversy between what Prime Minister Netanyahu said about the need for drawing a red line, and the American position. Namely the Israeli position was that the red line should be a point from where the Iranian has achieved enough enriched uranium, plutonium in order to cross the gap to actually producing the bomb in a rather short time and the American approach which said we don’t have to worry because once we know they have that quantity, and we shall know because the intelligence organs will tell us so, we will still have enough time to stop the Iranians, by whatever means, including perhaps military means.When we see the recent reports, as I said, by the International Atomic Agency in Vienna, it seems that the Iranians are rapidly approaching the point, from which they can create the bomb.

It is, a worrisome question mark whether the world, whether the America or Israel will still have enough time to stop them.

Will West have enough time to prevent Iran from getting the nuclear bomb?

It is, I would say, a worrisome question mark whether the world, whether the America or Israel will still have enough time to stop them. One must add to that, though this is not really pleasant situation, depending and relying on intelligence assessments, if one regards the intelligence failure for instance in Benghazi, in Libya and others as well, no intelligence is perfect, neither American nor Israeli, there can always be mistakes. To rely entirely on intelligence with regards to the nuclear bomb, nuclear issue is a risky proposition. So as I said Israel has, in the speech, which Mr. Netanyahu made at the United Nations, said okay we can wait another few months but time is running out and we do hope that close consultation with Americans, there are close consultations, that the Obama administration will reach the point where in direct talks, which America is going to have with Iranians, will make very clear that the time for talking, endless talking, is finished and if the Iranians can not accept propositions made to them by the West, especially by the Americans, then the next step could be military. But we have to wait and see how things will develop.

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Ambassador Zalman Shoval – political scientists, diplomat. From March 2012 a Special Envoy for Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Ambassador of Israel to the United States from 1990 to 1993 and from 1998 to 2000. From 1970 to 1990 Likud Member of Knesset. From 1977 to 1978 deputy to Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan. In 1978 Member of Israeli UN delegation. Member of the Board of Directors at the Tel-Aviv University, Ben-Gurion and Dayan Center. He is prominent member of Likud leadership. In 1999 he was given a prestigious reward “Diplomat of the Year” by World Affairs Council in Los Angeles. Retired Lt General of Israeli Defense Forces.