NETANYAHU: Well demilitarized is a real state. It just means that they can't
field the armies. They can't fire rockets. We want to make sure that if we
have a peace arrangement, we walk away from certain areas that they won't be
used a third time by Iran and its Palestinian proxies to fire rockets on Tel
Aviv and Jerusalem, but we don't want to run their lives. I don't want to
govern the Palestinians. I don't want them as subjects of Israel or as
citizens of Israel. I want them to have their own independent state but a
demilitarized state.
BURNETT: And to be clear, one that isn't separated by Israel as in there's a
Palestine part here, Israel --
NETANYAHU: No --
BURNETT: All one --
NETANYAHU: That is Swiss cheese (ph) now --
ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT
Interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Aired April 24, 2012 - 19:00 ET
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1204/24/ebo.01.html
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE
UPDATED.
ERIN BURNETT, HOST: OUTFRONT tonight, my exclusive interview with Benjamin
Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel. He is moving the goal post and he
says he knows exactly what Iran is up to right now.
Plus, a new case of mad cow disease discovered in the United States and Mitt
Romney about to get a five-state sweep. What will Barack Obama do about it?
Let's go OUTFRONT.
Good evening, everyone. I'm Erin Burnett and I'm OUTFRONT tonight live from
Jerusalem. The Old City is behind me, as you can see the walls. And just a
few hours ago, the sirens went off in the city, people stopping on the sides
of the streets in honor of the beginning of Memorial Day. Later on this week
it will be the 64th anniversary of the State of Israel.
It is an important week in this country and the world is watching this
country. It has a big decision to make, whether to strike or not strike
Iran, is a conversation topic at dinner tables around the world. What will
happen is a crucial election issue in the United States as well. It matters
a whole lot to Americans, to Barack Obama, to Mitt Romney.
I had a rare conversation with Benjamin Netanyahu at his home today. We
talked about Iran, Mitt Romney, Barack Obama and a whole lot more as he
opened up at his home.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: Mr. Prime minister, thank you so much for inviting us and letting
us come and see your home.
BENJAMIN NETANYAU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Well, welcome to Jerusalem. Take
a look around.
BURNETT: We came here to your courtyard. I know we had to move -- there was
a table here earlier, when we got here, there were two coffee cups on it, I
guess it was yours and Tony Blair's, when you were talking this morning, but
how important is this space for you? This is sort of your -- this is your
getaway space, right?
NETANYAHU: No this is my prison courtyard, because the prime minister of
Israel, like I suppose the president of the United States, and maybe the
Pope one or two other people.
BURNETT: Does it ever feel like you're sort of under house arrest? I mean
this --
NETANYAHU: Yes, for good reason, but I suppose so. But it doesn't mean that
there aren't an endless number of people who want to get into this prison
cell --
BURNETT: Oh I'm sure --
NETANYAHU: -- and live here.
BURNETT: I'm sure there are. Iran, there's been 16 years of diplomacy as
you've talked about. You've said repeatedly, you said it in March; I know
you said it to the Army radio this morning. It is not a problem of days but
it's also not a problem of years. Now you said that first in March so I
would imagine not years, plural. That means you think this will be resolved
by next spring?
NETANYAHU: Well, I hope it is resolved and I hope it is resolved peacefully.
Certainly the international community is putting a lot of pressure on Iran
and making clear that its nuclear program must stop. If it stops with the
sanctions, the combinations of sanctions, diplomacy, other pressures, I, as
the prime minister of Israel, will be the happiest person in the world.
BURNETT: Do you think that sanctions are working? I mean, I saw a story
today that about -- I think it was 56 percent of Iranian -- of Iran's fleet,
tankers, sitting off the coast with oil, full of oil, because they can't
sell it. It would appear that sanctions are working.
NETANYAHU: Well, they are certainly taking a bite out of the Iranian economy
but so far they haven't rolled back the Iranian program or even stopped it
by one iota. I mean, I hope that changes, but so far, I can tell you the
centrifuges are spinning. They were spinning before the talks began recently
with Iran. They were spinning during the talks. They're spinning as we
speak. So, if the sanctions are going to work, they better work soon.
BURNETT: How do you know what they're doing?
NETANYAHU: Oh, we know.
BURNETT: You know?
NETANYAHU: We know and others know and we share what we know. This is not
the case of the questions that people had about Saddam Hussein.
BURNETT: They say that it is for peaceful purposes --
NETANYAHU: They stay it is for peaceful purposes.
BURNETT: They say it is for peaceful purposes.
NETANYAHU: Well you have a sense of humor. I mean they said it is for
medical isotopes, right? That's why they are developing ICBMs to carry
medical isotopes to Europe or Israel or the United States. That's why they
are building these underground bunkers between -- underneath mountains for
medical isotopes. You know that's why they are telling the world that they
are going to erase Israel, with the medical isotopes. This is a farce.
Nobody can seriously -- nobody can take them seriously.
BURNETT: No nations with nuclear weapons have ever gone to war with each
other. I mean, take India and Pakistan. They haven't used them. Could it be
that Israel and Iran could end up in a situation like that where the
acquisition of the nuclear weapon ensures it would never be used?
NETANYAHU: Well, I'm not going to comment on Israel's purported
capabilities. I will say that to date, since the advent of the nuclear age
after Hiroshima all nuclear powers have been very careful with the use or
more accurately, the nonuse of the nuclear weapon when it comes to militant
Islamic regime, I wouldn't be too sure. Because unlike, say the Soviets,
they can put their ideology before their survival, so I don't think you can
bet on their rationality. Iran has given its terror proxies Hamas in Gaza
and Hezbollah in Lebanon, it's given them the most advanced lethal weapons,
whatever weapons they have to give them and they fired now 10, 12,000
rockets on Israel's cities.
They've been helping them to murder diplomats worldwide and to kill American
soldiers in Afghanistan. Think of what they do with nuclear weapons. And I
don't think you want to bet the peace in the Middle East and the security of
the world on Iran's rationale behavior. I think it is a much safer bet to do
what I and President Obama and others have said, prevent Iran from acquiring
atomic bombs.
BURNETT: One thing it's interesting though and you talk about some of the
negative parts about the regime there is a Jewish member of parliament in
Tehran and one of the most popular soap operas there, there was a zero
degree turn or zero turn, main character, an Iranian falls in love with a
Jewish woman. He helps smuggle Jews out of Paris to save them from the
Holocaust. And it's very popular in Iran. What makes you so sure that they
are anti-Semitic in a way that would cause them to use the weapon against
Israel?
NETANYAHU: Well I'd draw a distinction between the people of Iran and the
regime that has terrorized (ph) them, taken over their lives.
BURNETT: The regime let the show air though.
NETANYAHU: Well the regime is the one that, you know, has to kill people in
the streets and goes into their homes after they cull (ph) the Internet and
they just make people disappear. So this is a regime that is very brutal to
its own people. Iran is not free. Jews in Iran have a lot to worry about.
But the Jewish state that Iran openly calls a cancer that has to be excised
from the Middle East that has to be eradicated, certainly must take
seriously Iran's claims to annihilate it.
BURNETT: The way the talks seem to be going, U.N. negotiators, U.S.
negotiators, Iranian negotiators, (INAUDIBLE) saying that the sanctions are
working and that they may, in fact, roll back some sanctions. That's what
the Iranians want and there has not been a direct rebuttal to that from the
other side, the really tough sanctions that are supposed to take effect this
summer --
NETANYAHU: Well I think it would be a big mistake --
BURNETT: What do you do -- OK.
NETANYAHU: I think it would be a big mistake to rescind the sanctions or
lighten the sanctions. I think there has to be a cascade of sanctions and so
far, that's the acid test, the sanctions haven't worked. How do we know
that? Because nothing has been stopped. What has stopped in the Iranian
program?
BURNETT: What if they halted full enrichment to 20 percent started importing
that, would that be enough?
NETANYAHU: I think what they need to do are three things. One, they have to
stop all enrichment, second to take the --
BURNETT: All enrichment, even the three percent for medical?
NETANYAHU: Yes. Yes, because they say they need it for what medical
isotopes? So you can -- the second point is after you stop all enrichment is
remove the enriched material and you will get these rods from another
country that can allow you to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. And
third, dismantle the underground bunker (INAUDIBLE). If they have no
military goals, they should respond to this readily. What we want are
factual results. We want to see the Iranian program rolled back. That's,
unfortunately, not achieved by talks in which Iran has one goal, to stall,
delay, run out the clock. That's basically what they are doing.
BURNETT: Do you worry that you are going to put yourself in a position
though that you may have to strike, a strike which even former head of the
Mossad has said would only delay, not end the Iranian nuclear program? That
by staying is not days, it's not -- you are going to end up with a date
where if you don't do it, you look like you couldn't or you wouldn't so you
have to?
NETANYAHU: I'm not worried what we look like. I am worried about stopping
this. And I think there are really three principles that should guide us.
They have been echoed by the United States and I think any sensible person
understands that. The first is that Iran's nuclear weapons program must be
stopped. The second is that containment is not an option. And the third is
that Israel, the state of the Jewish people, must have the capacity to
defend itself by itself against any threat.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: Obviously, very significant that the prime minister is saying the
only standard Israel will accept is that Iran not enrich at all, not even
the three percent that they would need for medical use. Well, there could be
an issue that is even bigger for Israel right now and we're going to talk
about that next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NETANYAHU: I could deliver a peace agreement. I could get the Israeli people
to follow me if I believed that I have a serious partner on the other side.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Well you just heard a little bit of my exclusive interview with
Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel. We are OUTFRONT tonight
live from Jerusalem, where you can see the Old City behind me. Israel right
now honoring its dead in Memorial Day. We had a chance to talk about Iran,
as you just heard. Zero enrichment is what he is willing to accept on that
front.
He says he know what is Iran is doing but there is an issue that could be
bigger around and that issue has to do with Palestine, which you haven't
heard a whole lot about recently, maybe because Iran has been dominating the
headlines. But he had something to say about Palestine he has never said
before.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: I want to ask you about another issue that hasn't gotten much
coverage recently because Iran has been getting so much coverage. I was in
Dubai recently, interviewing Sheik Mohammed (ph) the prime minister of
(INAUDIBLE) UAE, ruler of Dubai and we talked about Israel and here is what
he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know I tell you we have nothing against Israel. You
know we have nothing against Israel. And what we want is for the
Palestinian, a country for the Palestinian and a country for Israel. And I
promise you that (INAUDIBLE) Israel will benefit more than us because Israel
have things to offer in the market.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NETANYAHU: That's very wise. That's very wise and I agree with him. I think
that peace would benefit us, as I think would it would benefit the
Palestinians, as it would benefit the entire region. I think there's one
other thing. I think that I could deliver a peace agreement.
I could get the Israeli people to follow me if I believe that I have a
serious partner on the other side, willing to make the necessary compromises
on the Palestinian side. Many compromises that people talk about on the
Israeli side, but there are necessary compromises on the Palestinian side
and you know, peace is always a two-way compromise.
BURNETT: Would you accept their belief though that they should have a
country which is contiguous, not islands here and islands there, but one
space?
NETANYAHU: Yes, we talked about --
BURNETT: No checkpoints.
NETANYAHU: I don't think that this is what -- no checkpoints? I'm the prime
minister who removed 400 checkpoints, barriers, road- blocks and so on to
facilitate the growth of the Palestinian economy. This is in line with what
I believe is essential that is the economic growth that is a great
supplement and a great bulwark of actual peace. It is not a substitute for a
political peace, but it helps, and I'm very much in favor of that. Look,
there are so many issues to discuss, but you have to discuss them. You can't
discuss them in the press, not even on CNN. You have to sit down opposite
one another. That's what leaders do.
BURNETT: You know yesterday I saw some of the best of Israel. You know we
saw winery. We saw the Moroccan (ph) oil, the hair plant (ph) that I was
telling you about --
NETANYAHU: (INAUDIBLE)
BURNETT: At the end of the day, it was sunset, I went to a refugee camp
outside Jerusalem and we were actually -- we were going to talk to some
adults, you know what happened, children come flocking over and lots of boys
came flocking over. And they were playing soccer football, and I asked them
what they wanted to be when they grew up? And they all spoke in Arabic and
they said and this was pretty amazing considering that most of them weren't
in school, dentist, engineer, and I want to fight Israel, everyone of them.
NETANYAHU: The first two I like. The last one I didn't.
BURNETT: How can you change that? When you talk about hinges (ph) of
history, isn't this issue more important than Iran or anything else?
NETANYAHU: How do you change it? You change it by educating people for
peace. And I think one of the failings of the Palestinian Authority has been
that they air on their national media, they control the media. They air all
this stuff about Israel, doing away with Israel. They have kindergartens for
reveling in suicide bombers, kindergarten kids, so I'm not surprised that
kids grow up (INAUDIBLE). The only way you change it is by having peace
agreement and speaking peace to your people. I spoke three years ago to my
people about a solution of a demilitarized Palestinian state that lives
alongside -- recognizes the Jewish state.
BURNETT: How can you have a state --
NETANYAHU: Because they'll become --
BURNETT: -- be demilitarized --
NETANYAHU: They will become dentists. They will become doctors if they
become a peaceful state.
BURNETT: Don't they have a right for a real state --
NETANYAHU: Sure.
BURNETT: -- demilitarized?
NETANYAHU: Well demilitarized is a real state. It just means that they can't
field the armies. They can't fire rockets. We want to make sure that if we
have a peace arrangement, we walk away from certain areas that they won't be
used a third time by Iran and its Palestinian proxies to fire rockets on Tel
Aviv and Jerusalem, but we don't want to run their lives. I don't want to
govern the Palestinians. I don't want them as subjects of Israel or as
citizens of Israel. I want them to have their own independent state but a
demilitarized state.
BURNETT: And to be clear, one that isn't separated by Israel as in there's a
Palestine part here, Israel --
NETANYAHU: No --
BURNETT: All one --
NETANYAHU: That is Swiss cheese (ph) now --
BURNETT: (INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: Swiss cheese, an analogy that was used by George W. Bush years ago.
At that time, Benjamin Netanyahu did not support it. Contiguous a crucial
word, is there going to be a contiguous state? Not something that the prime
minister said before, we talked to sources in the Palestine -- the PLO
today, and they said that it's not something he had discussed with them, so
that could be significant if peace talks do again start, to have a
contiguous -- to use that word contiguous a lot of weight in that particular
word.
Well we're going to hear what the prime minister has to say about the U.S.
elections. It is an important issue for him and what he has to say about
Iran important there. How well does he know Mitt Romney? We're going to get
some answers to that. Plus his obsession with a map and a new case of mad
cow disease in the United States a lot of people wondering what it means and
we have some answers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Welcome back. OUTFRONT tonight live from the Old City in Jerusalem.
I was just spending some time with Prime Minister Netanyahu today. One of
the interesting things about it was not only that we were talking there in
the courtyard where he smokes his cigars because his wife won't let him do
it in the house, but we also got to go inside and see his study. And while
we were there we saw a map of, well, the Middle East. Here is quick glimpse
of a kind of interesting moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: This is your neighborhood?
NETANYAHU: This is gigantic Israel. You know, I can cover it with my thumb.
I mean --
BURNETT: Yes.
NETANYAHU: -- this is the Arab world, right, Saudi Arabia, Iran. This is all
of -- this is this gigantic Israel that you hear about. That's it. From here
to here.
BURNETT: With all the focus on Iran, what about Egypt? Your foreign minister
said that could be a bigger threat to you than Iran.
NETANYAHU: Well, you know, I'm not sure that's a correct quote but certainly
where he is concerned with Iran and we are both concerned with the direction
of Egypt and I hope that any government that is established in Egypt
understands that peace between Egypt and Israel is as much an Egyptian
interest as it is an Israeli interest and I hope to continue the peace.
That's our desire.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Just for the record, the quote was in "The Jerusalem Post" from the
foreign minister on Egypt. And obviously, it is an ongoing debate over what
is really going on between those two countries right now, but that moment
when he stayed this is the Middle East and he gestured to North Africa and
he put his thumb on Israel, I said that is such an interesting moment. You
know it makes an interesting point. And then, well, someone in our bureau
here in Jerusalem said wait a minute, you have to look at this and I said
who is that? Well, it was Prime Minister Netanyahu, who, at the time deputy
foreign minister, back in, what was the date, January 18th, 1991. Take a
look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NETANYAHU: This is the Arab world. And I'm just going to put my hands on it
for the benefit of the viewers. I have a size 10 shoe, American size 10
shoe. I could walk on this map on the Arab world. Here's Israel. I cover it
with my thumb.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
BURNETT: I mean, you got to say, some things never seem to change in this
part of the world. There's always worth putting a little bit of humor when
you're talking about very serious subjects. One thing we talked about very
serious was well what does Bibi think about Mitt? (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Do you like him?
NETANYAHU: Well, look, here's an answer that will -- should satisfy you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: All right, we start the second half of our show with stories we
care about, where we focus on our own reporting, do the work and find the
"OutFront 5". I'm live in Jerusalem tonight. More of the Netanyahu interview
in just a moment, but John Avlon has the "OutFront 5". Hey, John.
JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hey, Erin. Up first, two additional Secret
Service agents have resigned and a third has lost security clearance in the
ongoing Colombian Secret Service scandal. One of those that resigned was an
individual who was staying at the Hilton and brought a woman there just five
days before the president arrived. The president was asked about the scandal
as part of his appearance on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon". He said the
agency does a great job 99.9 percent of the time and that quote, "a couple
of knuckleheads shouldn't detract from the great job the agency does."
Number two: former aide to John Edwards took the stand today, again
revealing details about Edwards' secret life with while he was a
presidential contender. Testifying for the prosecution, Andrew Young
recalled the time he received calls from Edwards' mistress, Rielle Hunter.
She threatened to go public if she didn't speak to Edwards immediately.
Edwards is accused of using campaign money to hide his extramarital affair.
Our Joe Johns said Young's testimony also recalled when Edwards found out
about Hunter's pregnancy, quoting Edwards as saying, "She's a crazy S."
Well, stay classy.
Number three: a new case of mad cow disease was discovered in a dairy cow in
California. The USDA said the cow was never prevented for the slaughter and
at that time presented a risk to humans or to food supply.
This is the fourth case of mad cow disease, the second in the United States
and the first since 2006.
CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen says the potential threat
from this one cow is slim to none.
Number four: it was a blockbuster three months for Apple. The numbers are
just staggering. The tech giant reported sales of $39.2 billion. The company
sold 35.1 million iPhones, almost twice as many as they sold a year ago.
They sold 11.8 million iPads, making Apple's fastest selling device. The
company also has $110 billion in cash.
It has been 264 days since the United States lost its top credit rating.
What are we doing to get it back?
Housing is still a main area of concern for the U.S. economy. New data today
showing that new home seams fell in March and home prices sunk a further 3.5
percent in February.
Now, let's go back to Erin in Jerusalem.
ERIN BURNETT, HOST: All right. And housing, obviously, a crucial issue for
the U.S. election. But so is what's happening here in the Middle East, with
Israel and with Iran. Israel has some very big decisions to make.
But the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also an important player
in U.S. politics and a lot of people want to know what he really thinks
about Barack Obama and how well he really knows Mitt Romney.
Well, that was very interesting part of our conversation, I'll put it that
way, and let you judge for yourself.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: I want to talk a little bit about U.S. politics. Obviously, you are
an important player in U.S. politics, and is the prime minister of Israel.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: No, I'm not.
BURNETT: No?
NETANYAHU: Yes, I'm going to stop you right there, Erin. You know why?
BURNETT: Why?
NETANYAHU: Because I have enough politics to of my own, I don't need to
enter American politics.
BURNETT: Like it or not, people care about what you think about all kinds of
things in the U.S. and you know Mitt Romney. You worked with him at Boston
Consulting Group, right? Am I --
NETANYAHU: I didn't work with him. But when I entered the Boston Consulting
Group 35 years ago, something like that, he was -- I was a young recruit and
he was already a star manager. He looked the same.
BURNETT: You must not have said that. (INAUDIBLE)
NETANYAHU: Isn't that disturbing? I don't look the same. He looks the same.
BURNETT: He has that kind of Ken doll look, but -- he always looks young.
NETANYAHU: But, you know, I didn't see him for many years and then I met him
many years later when I was minister of finance and he was the governor of
Massachusetts, and we've been in touch since.
BURNETT: Is he a friend of yours? Do you like him?
NETANYAHU: Well, look, here's an answer that will -- should satisfy you. I
respect Mitt Romney as I respect Barack Obama, the president of the United
States. And that's the end of the ranking and the questions that you will
undoubtedly try again and again to draw me into.
I have enough politics here. I don't want to get into American politics.
BURNETT: I want to ask you one thing though about the Iran issue and Mitt
Romney. He wrote an op-ed in "The Washington Post," in which I'm sure you
saw.
NETANYAHU: You don't stop, do you?
BURNETT: You know, I'm paid to be relentless.
NETANYAHU: No, no, go ahead. And I will be --
BURNETT: As I believe is your job.
NETANYAHU: No, I'll be relentlessly fending you off. You'll get the same
result.
BURNETT: OK. He said that he would, as it pertains Iran, press for ever
tightening sanctions, buttress my diplomacy with military option and speak
out on behalf of democracy.
That sounds like identical to Barack Obama.
Is that your perception, that they would have pretty much the same U.S.
policy or not?
NETANYAHU: You know, I'm just not going to get into American politics. If
you want to talk to me about the American policy, then I think the right
policy is to make sure that Iran doesn't get nuclear weapons. By the way,
that would be a catastrophe for world peace, a grave danger to American
interests and to American lives.
BURNETT: The Israel that the world sees is a lot about the start-up. It's
entrepreneurial, it's creative. It's successful. It's wealthy. It's
incredibly powerful.
It's not an underdog. And a lot of the narrative about Iran or being
attacked seems to be more of a victim -- everyone is out to get us. But a
lot of the Israel that we see is a dominant powerful Israel, not a victim.
NETANYAHU: I wouldn't say dominant. I would say Israel is vibrant democracy,
tremendously creative, as wild entrepreneurs. They're changing -- they're
curing disease around the world.
Your cell phone probably has four or five Israeli I.T. application inside.
BURNETT: Right.
NETANYAHU: It's just changing the world. We have the greatest number of
Nobel Prize winners per capita of any country. So, there's tremendous
creativity that is useful for good, for peaceful means.
We're not seeking to dominate anyone. We are seeking to live in peace with
our neighbors. I hope they decide to do the same with us. We don't teach our
children to say I want to be a doctor, I want to be a dentist, I want to be
a technologist and I want to fight the Arabs.
BURNETT: About 40 percent of the world's Jews live in the United States,
nearly as many as in Israel. Peter Beinart's new books "The Crisis of
Zionism" talks a lot about the Jews that I know, that I'm friends with. They
are marrying people who are not Jewish about half, non-orthodox American
Jews now do. He talks about non-orthodox American Jews under the age of 35.
And I thought this was amazing, they're half as likely as over people 65 to
say they are emotionally attached to Israel. Less than half American Jews
under 35 say they feel a strong sense of belonging to the Jewish people.
Part of the reason for that appears to be Israel now seen more as an
occupier than as a victim in the traditional sense.
Are you worried about American Jews?
NETANYAHU: No, I think there's a much stronger bond than meets the eye.
There's a very strong bond that we can encourage and develop, especially by
having young Jews from the United States and elsewhere from around the world
coming here and these fantastic programs that just bring them in by the tens
of thousands, just to visit Israel.
I think ultimately the future of the Jewish people is intimately bound with
the future of the Jewish state.
And my job, as the prime minister of Israel is to ensure that future.
BURNETT: Mr. Prime Minister, thank you very much.
NETANYAHU: Thank you. Good to see you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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