There is no conflict between the Iranian and Israeli people, and under a different regime, peaceful relations could be restored, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the German daily Bild.
In an interview published on Monday, the premier was careful not to endorse reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. When asked if a victory for the Iranian opposition leader would be "good news" for Israel, Netanyahu replied that "a regime that stops crushing dissent, stops supporting terror and stops trying to build nuclear weapons," would be a welcome outcome.
"It would mean a regime that stops denying the Holocaust and stops threatening Israel with destruction. There is no conflict between the Iranian people and the people of Israel, and under a different regime the friendly relations that prevailed in the past could be restored," Netanyahu added.
"I think the true nature of the Iranian regime has been unmasked," the premier said of the recent unfolding events in the Islamic Republic. "This regime is not only a great threat to our existence, but also to moderate Arab countries, the safety of Europe and to the peace in the world."
"If they had a free choice," Netanyahu added in reference to the Iranians, "I have no doubt they would have a different government. What we have seen in Iran is a powerful desire on the part of the Iranian people to be free."
In the interview conducted in Jerusalem, Netanyahu stressed Israel's continuous aspiration for peace, calling it "our hope" and pointing out that agreements had been reached with Jordan and Egypt.
"But we have to ask the question why we have not achieved comprehensive peace while our people are praying for this every day, and while Israel has made concessions that no other country has made for peace," Netanyahu continued "And the honest answer is that there is still a persistent refusal in some quarters of the Arab world and beyond it to recognize the right of a Jewish state to exist here in our ancestral homeland."
"Once this refusal is removed - the door to permanent peace will surely be opened," he ascertained, adding that all other problems, no matter how difficult they might seem, would be solvable.