Peres: I'm 'very proud' of 'justified' social protests

President says he's working "in every possible way" toward peace with Palestinians; Israel needs to enlist the world against Iranian threat.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Shimon Peres 311 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
Shimon Peres 311
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
President Shimon Peres said he is "very proud" of the social protests taking place during the last month in Israel, in an extended interview with Israel Radio on Tuesday. The president said that he cannot remember a time when people from so many sectors of society got behind the same cause.
The protests, Peres went on to say, are completely justified. "The most interesting thing is that nobody organized this, it was completely spontaneous and they don't want to be organized."
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Although Peres refused to discuss details of peace talks with the Palestinians or confirm recent reports that he held secret talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, he said he continues to work "in every possible way" to reach a deal with the Palestinians.
He added that he believes a deal with the Palestinians is possible.
For 63 years, Peres said, Israel has faced security threats. The bravery and toughness of Israel's young generations in combination with advanced military technology lead to Israeli victories and survival he said. Today, however, with diplomatic threats, those things don't matter any more.
Peres also discussed the Iranian threat, saying that Israel needs to put great efforts into enlisting the world in the fight against that threat.
"The Iranian threat is not just to Israel," he explained, "but to the entire world."