Israel will not accept a nuclear Iran, visiting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told US television, but while not ruling out military action, said he hoped diplomacy would dissuade Tehran from pursuing its nuclear program. "We will not tolerate the possession of nuclear weapons by Iran," Olmert told NBC television's "Today Show" program, ahead of talks with President George W. Bush on Iran's nuclear ambitions and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Asked whether his country was considering a preemptive strike targeting Tehran's nuclear facilities, Olmert answered: "I hope we don't have to reach that stage."
But the Israel leader said his first choice is a negotiated resolution.
"Every compromise that will stop Iran from acquiring nuclear capabilities, which will be acceptable to President Bush, would be acceptable to me."
Olmert added that he was not seeking Washington's protection from Tehran.
"I am not coming to the United States to ask America to save Israel," he said, saying his country had drawn the lessons of the Holocaust and World War II.
"In the 20th century someone said, 'I will liquidate a nation of people.' And somehow the whole world heard it, may have understood it, but didn't do much to prevent it."
"Now we have the president of Iran speaking on every international platform that the purpose of his efforts is to ultimately wipe Israel off the map," Olmert said.
"I am not looking for wars or confrontations. I am looking for the outcome," he said, adding that in his view the only result that matters is "whether it will succeed to stop Iran from possessing nuclear weapons."
Monday's summit, which comes six months after Olmert's first meeting with Bush at the White House, has been described by officials in Jerusalem as "a down-to-business meeting" on Iran.
With Tehran continuing to reject international calls to halt its nuclear enrichment efforts, Israel in recent months has moved the Iranian threat to the top of its agenda.
Backed by the United States, Israel has said sanctions are necessary following Tehran's failure to suspend uranium enrichment, and has hinted at possible military action against the Islamic republic.
"This is not an issue of Israel only. It is a moral issue of the whole world and the whole world has to stop it," Olmert said.
