More than 20 years after former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin repeatedly explained how important it was to end the Arab-Israeli conflict before Iran would finish the development of its nuclear weapons, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also recognized the linkage of the nuclear threat and the Palestinian problem.

In fact, for many years Netanyahu derisively rejected any attempt to hint at a linkage between the two, but in a speech he delivered this week (Dec. 8) to the Saban Forum, the prime minister said, “Our best efforts to reach Palestinian-Israeli peace will come to nothing if Iran succeeds in building atomic bombs.” Netanyahu continued to explain that “a nuclear-armed Iran would give even greater backing to the radical and terrorist elements in the region. It would undermine the chances of arriving at a negotiated peace.” The prime minister even warned that a nuclear Iran could undermine the peace deals Israel has with two of its neighbors — Egypt and Jordan.

Netanyahu made the same linkage as Rabin, but in the reverse direction. Rabin, who was assassinated because of his insistence on the concept of ending the conflict with the Palestinians, worded Bibi's [Netanyahu's] message differently. In essence, Rabin’s message today would be, “Our greatest efforts to prevent Iran from creating nuclear bombs will come to naught if we do not achieve Palestinian-Israeli peace. The failure of negotiations, the settlement policy, the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority and a violent intifada will strengthen radical elements and terror agents in the region, and will also undermine the peace deals we already achieved with two of our neighbors — Egypt and Jordan.”

Netanyahu also enlisted his 'Iranian linkage first' in his recent talks with the American administration regarding the negotiations held by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, or P5+1, with Iran. He contends that in the absence of absolute security, i.e., a nuclear guarantee that Iran will fulfill all its commitments with regard to nuclear weapons, he will not be able to convince the Israeli public to take risks on behalf of peace with the Palestinians. Many experts on Iran say that there is some justification for Netanyahu’s skepticism regarding the agreement taking shape with the Iranians, and regarding the odds that the Iranians will actually honor their signed agreements. A high-level diplomat who has experienced close contacts with Iran, described to me the dubious norms employed by the Iranians with regard to honoring agreements.