Former Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin spoke to Arutz Sheva at the American-Israel Policy Conference (AIPAC) on Tuesday, where he opined on Iran, peace talks, and the elections, among other issues. 

“Iran is a bitter enemy of Israel,” Yadlin asserted. “Iran wants to reach a military nuclear capability. Fortunately it is not there yet, but if it was there, it would be a significant threat to Israel’s security and we need to do everything to prevent Iran from attaining a nuclear bomb.” 

Yadlin also noted that Iran’s terror network throughout the Middle East is not only a global problem, but specifically that “all of these are challenges for the State of Israel.” 

Yadlin disagreed, as well, with the hefty praise directed toward Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, opining that his Congress speech would only hurt the US-Israel relationship and negotiations with Iran as a whole. 

“The US is an important partner in our fight against Iran; it’s a major partner, and is the world’s only superpower,” Yadlin claimed. “The government should work with Congress and both political parties.”

“What the Prime Minister has done here is going behind the government by going to address Congress,” he accused, adding, “it’s just disturbing.” 

Yadlin was asked if he trusts US President Barack Obama’s promises to maintain Israel’s security. He responded by saying that he believed Obama on that point, as well as on his alleged efforts to stop Iran’s nuclear program, but added that the steps Obama may or may not have actually taken to that end are debatable. 

With regard to negotiations with the Palestinian Authority (PA), Yadlin stated that talks are frozen. For now, any talks with Hamas are not an option, he said, whereas PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has led a political intifada and thus there is nothing to talk about with him, for the time being. 

However, he expressed hope that a “different leader” (likely Labor’s Yitzhak Herzog – ed.) will replace Netanyahu, and thus renew hopes of a peace deal that could restore trust between the parties. 

He also justified the rampant political smear campaign against Netanyahu as a legitimate means of campaigning.