President Peres: Bombing Iran may not be the 'best solution'

       President Shimon Peres said Wednesday that attacking Iran would only postpone its ability to build an atom bomb. "I'm not sure that bombing the nuclear facilities is the best solution. You know, the moment there are centrifuges, you can destroy the centrifuges. You cannot destroy the know-how to create centrifuges. You can postpone," he told Channel 10. Asked whether Israel could accept a nuclear Iran, the president said: "Attacking the nuclear sites is not the only option. The West has other options. First of all we can tell the Iranians 'If you launch a nuclear attack, it doesn't matter against whom, it will elicit a nuclear response.' Secondly, we can monitor their missiles. It is easier to monitor launching devices. If, like they say, they are not interested in developing nuclear weapons, why do they need launchers?" Peres also said the new Israeli government of hard-line Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should work for a peace agreement with the Palestinians. "We've finished agreement with the Egyptians, with the Jordanians. Now we need to finish with the Palestinians. The differences [that require settling] aren't big." Until next month's meeting between Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington, all reports about the new government's intentions and policies were just "talk." "The opening line will be in that conversation and each side will hear what it is really about." (22,30)