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Peres's Pledge

Israeli president tells AIPAC Iranian nuclear program

AP Images
March 4, 2012

Israeli President Shimon Peres declared Sunday morning that, one way or another, Iran "will be stopped" from obtaining nuclear arms.

"If we are forced to fight, trust me, we shall prevail," Peres told a crowd of nearly 13,000 pro-Israel delegates at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual policy conference in Washington.

While Israel does not crave war with Iran, it is prepared to take the necessary steps to stop Iran’s pursuit of nuclear arms, Peres said.

"We had to fight six wars in six decades," he said. "We did not lose one. We never will."

When discussing the Iranian regime, Peres did not mince words.

"Iran is an evil, cruel, morally corrupt regime," he said. "It is based on destruction—and is an affront to human dignity."

The Iranian regime, Peres added, "is a danger to the entire world."

Peres also discussed the stalled peace process with the Palestinians.

"The pursuit of peace, for us, is not a passing opportunity, it is a moral imperative," he said. "It is the tenet of our national security. To make peace, Israel must be strong."

Reiterating the longstanding Israeli stance, Peres said that any peace deal with the Palestinians must "preserve an Israel that is Jewish, democratic, and attractive."

But peace would come through a deal with the Palestinian Authority, Peres added.

President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad "need and want peace," he said. "They are our partners for peace. Not Hamas."