little bbq. i try to get out every other weekend if i can. >> allen west, former congressmen, author and now a think tank president, "guardian of the republic" is the name of the book. here's the cover. this is booktv on c-span2. >> now on booktv michael oren talks about his years as issues ambassador to the united states and shares his reflections on the arab spring and the israel-palestine peace process. [inaudible conversations] >> hello, everyone. good afternoon. thank you for your patience. i'm susan, the director of events and programs here at the store and on behalf of our owners and our entire staff i would like to welcome you to politics and prose but before was just a reminder to turn over sastre cell phones.

also after the event we ask that you leave your chair and you're welcome to stay, we have another event later on this evening. during a question and answer session if you could step up to the microphone we would be grateful. we are recording this event. has also going to be on our youtube channel and we have c-span here. we also ask that as a courtesy to your fellow audience members you do come to the microphone prepared with the question and not a speech. also just briefly to pick up one of our -- [laughter] please pick up one of our july calendars, take a look at all the great programming we have going on here and also after three busbo busboy and poet lope not offered in bookstores the event said brooklyn at tacoma. today we're joined michael oren hoosier to discuss his new memoir, "ally: my journey across the american-israeli divide" which is the start of his personal and professional journey that spans these two

countries and their extraordinary but also extraordinarily public hated relationship. he described movingly his desire at the age of 15 and he was a kid living in new jersey and a member of the zionist move -- youth movement, handshake which inspired him to devote himself to the country of israel. he served as israel's ambassador to the united states from 2009-2013 and he writes candidly of his experience and that his dealings with the obama administration, aspects of which have been generating headlines. he is considered a leading middle east scholar. the jerusalem post has called one of the world's 10 most influential jews. is written six books including two novels. please join me in welcoming michael oren. [applause]

>> thank you. she didn't mention the novels which were very well reviewed, so does dozens of copies. [laughter] you'll find them in the pulp section of the bookstore. shalom. this is a good to be back. i was told the owners what a great joy as ambassador was to escape the embassy and wander over to politics and prose. this was the island of rep owes or ambassador for many years. just delightful to be back but the strange thing, about half of you are in the book. [laughter] there is jack do i think i described as stage and say something like that. was about okay? [inaudible] >> my friend from junior high school is in the book. major pashtun u.s. marines is in the book. that's it. basically you are all here. that's great, wonderful. this is a book, called "ally." wrote it the year after he came

back from serving in washington which was challenging enough. i had to take 50 days off last for last summer's war between israel and hamas where i served as a sort of unofficial spokesman for the state division on international tv. that was sufficiently challenging. that went into an election cycle because i'm also a member of knesset's now. the real challenge was to find a title. you think that's a trivial thing. i had no idea what to call us and then i was sitting with my wife wendy and i said i know it's one word with two syllables. and then i've got it, its ally. she didn't get excited. she said similar to this and they will say that the title of the book is alley. and she said some of look at this and say you left out the s.

[laughter] she said they won't get that. don't underestimate these people. ally is one of those beautiful words in english lancaster no negative connotation. one can be a partner in crime but never an ally in crime. you think i like him is something very positive. it could also in hebrew. the term for ally in hebrew is -- son of a covenant. just a gorgeous term in hebrew and it recalls the special relationships between the jewish people and god. israel and the united states have a very special relationsh relationship. actually i can think of any two countries and welcome to this country another foreign country that is such a multifaceted and deep relationship. first of all the relationship

begins not in 1967 or 1940. it begins with back in the 17th century when the first puritans came to this country last book i wrote which exported some of those groups. the first puritans who came to this country against the idea that america thought of themselves of the new israel, then you just put a strong connection with all the jews. it was their duty to help those old jews get back and create a sovereign state in their sacred land, the land of israel. so you have americans like john adams, abraham lincoln, woodrow wilson of course, harry truman. so the deep spiritual connection and that continued because the united states remains a pretty religious country. more people go to a house of worship of one type or another in discussion than in any other industrialized country. they read the bible. it happened to be on more than one occasion i would walk up to office on capitol hill and some congressman polis texas whose

district was five times the size of a state issue, probably didn't have a single jewish person as constituency, had a bible opened up at his desk and opened up to the book of genesis was god says those who bless my people would be blessed. and it would say i believe that, how much they'd you want for iron dome? just like that after a while i stopped being shocked by. 1940, issue comes to being not just for the jewish state but also democratic state. part of that ever shorter list of democrats states i and will,e are part of every select list of countries that are never to a second a nondemocratic government. roughly new zealand, australia, canada, the united states. never a second a non-democratic government despite that we've known a second piece which is quite and accomplishing. you have spiritual shared democratic that you didn't have

a strategic alliance. that is relatively new. that began after the six-day war. six-day war potential fights us. i'm just not on the other books are going along. the six-day war israel fights at war with french bread when we picked its ally in the seventh it as a war the woman american policymakers woke up and said there's this little superpower in the middle east that just defeated several soviet armed forces and we should be aligned with the country and thus was born the u.s.-israel strategic alliance which is just expanded in the fields of weapons development, intelligence sharing, joint maneuver, special forces, just about anything you can and it's out there. cyber defense is very, very big. very, very large. united states gives israel roughly $4 billion every year in military aid. 75% is spent in the united states and creates tens of thousands of jobs here.

so that is another par part of e symbiotic relationship with israel and the united states, and the recently israel has become a technological superpower. punching way above its weight. some 200 american high-tech firms have their are indeed interesting is that apple has never had an r&d center outside california that apple has three major trying to centers -- r&d centers in issue. think i am a countries fall into the scanner that this virtual tie with the united states, have a shared democratic system with the united states that's never been interrupted, it has a strategic alliance and a very strong high-tech economic connection to it's a totally unique alliance. you'd be hard-pressed to find another example like this in the world, and yet even the issue at the united states are anyways ultimate allies, there are divides. the are some deep divides and

there are divides to go back to 67, go back to 1948. settled was started after 67. the question of jerusalem goes back to 1940. kenya me back there okay? goes back to 1948. we've been divided over what has become known in more recent years as the peace process. deep division sometimes. we have been divided over u.s. arms sales to arab countries. the book will talk about the two most important letters in the u.s.-israel alliance. they are q&a, qualitative military edge. united states has made an historic commitment to the issue to a traditional can defend itself by itself against any middle eastern editor or any combination of middle eastern adversaries. amazement about the while the united states will sell several kinds of things that comes to arab countries in the lease which creates jobs here in the united states but it's an issue for us.

most recently most poignantly, most painfully the united states and israel are divided over the pending deal with iranian nuclear program. that is perhaps the deepest divide at all. sometimes the divides can threaten to actually render the fabric of his extraordinary alliance. that's a we've seen most recently. now, this part of the biography wasn't written, you hear that i grew up in this country. i grew up in new jersey -- [applause] >> thank you. as ambassador i said i always giveget in a more time defendine state of new jersey rather than the state of israel. certainly a good state. in the wake of the typical american kid i was dyslexic, learning disabled, not coordinated, clumsy, unpopular and school. typical american kid. i grew up, i was the only jewish

kid in my neighbor. i got beat up all the time but and the somatic boys. a true joy, but i had dreams. i had lots of dreams. -- anti--- i wanted, i wanted to be an israeli. this will come out of nowhere but i was a very proud american. my father was a veteran of world war ii are still going strong, my dad. landed on normandy and you raise me with all the great american values. the book opens up with a trying to read lincoln's inaugural address to my kids at the lincoln memorial and not being able finish it because i keep breaking up and growing. i'm very sentimental of this country. ..

>> and i i was going date of bih damned if i was going to miss the opportunity by staying in new jersey. i decided i was going to live there. i forced myself to be youngest volunteer in israel. and i started going back and forth in israel. i wanted to be a soldier, which was another dream. i couldn't really run.

running with a gun. that was very difficult. i had the dream that i was going to meet the girl of my dreams. i didn't give up. i went out to fulfill my dreams. i did. i thought myself how to spell, became a writer and historian, i went to israel. i joined the army, learned to run with a gun. i had no choice. i met the girl of my dreams. she's over here. sally. she was busy playing with jerry garcía. you don't know to the prom. we lived out this dream, but i had one more dream and that dream goes back, i think you

mentioned this, the time when i was a kid and had the opportunity to watch dc. he was the same hero of the 67 war. there was no greater hero. when i met him, i realized how i could resolve the two great loves of my life by being israel's embassador to the united states. i want to be israel's embassador. i'm living out the dreams. our eldest son was wounded in battle. sally last her sister in suicide attack in israel. a few months later i was present at his funeral.

we made a life. finally in 2009, i realized the ultimate dream when the new elected prime minister of israel named me as israel's embassador to the united states, and i came into office at a time of just almost unprecedented challenges on so many different front fron. this country was in the debt, worst financial crisis since the deep depression. there was war trauma, and exhaustion about two difficult wars in the middle east, and for israel specially the entire middle east was about to change. we didn't know. egypt was go to undergo but two

violent resolutions. in the middle iranians are building a nuclear program. they would 19. all that was going to happen in a very short period of time in 2009 and the peace process meanwhile is dead in the water. i came to office -- they offered a full peace plan. he walked away and when i came to office he wasn't willing to sit down and negotiate with us. this was an ideal to take over the relationship. all of a sudden, i had an

immense divide that i'm supposed to bridge. you have two leaders that are mix matched. you have the newly elected president of barack obama. got a great resume. he was a commander in israel delta fours. went to mit in harvard. served at the second in command. he was a very successful prime minister. he was a prime minister and an author and that is his resume. he wasn't widely respected in

his own country. americans salute the rank, israel don't salute anybody. in contrast to obama, didn't have legislative experience, foreign policy experience. obama is an icon and throughout much of the world. you have complete opposites, these two men. not only resumes but popularities, they had different world views. he nephewses the word -- nephewses the word paradym. one of the first things he does when he's reelected, he hangs a large portrait over his right shoulder in his office.

churchill will office be looking over his shoulder. barack obama comes into office. he's very cool, he is a rock star, and one of his first acts is to take and remove it from oval office. beyond that, there is policy. i'll make the case very strongly in the book that the obama administration is part -- its part of the world view, since mid 1980s, the two pillars were no surprised. if america is going to make a major statement on the middle east and issues that impractice

-- let a chance to submit our comments about it. the drafts were given to prime minister and he had a chance to say how much he didn't like that. that was no surprise. by the way, it cuts both ways. this was not supposed to surprise the united states either. i mentioned some of the differences already. but we try to keep those differences behind closed doors. if we have behind closed doors. it'll be bad for both countries. it'll be damaging for both of our interests. as a matter of policy, the president to distinguish from previous presidents and his own world view decided not to

maintain these two principles. we had examples of it. i accompanied to the white house. i was present in all of them. and in that meeting, the prime minister was surprised. the president made a demand for a complete freeze of settle meant in the west bank but also building in the jewish neighborhoods in jerusalem. now, it was surprise for many reasons. it's sovereign. that's like asking -- i don't

know, expecting the president of the united states to freezing building in pittsburgh. it can't do done legally. it was a party that had supported settlement building and had rejected the two-state solution. it was a difficulty. it was made into daylight. demands were made very publicly and created a difficult situation. there was a conversation that i repriused in -- reproduced in the book, i'm going to put daylight between israel and the united states with a policy decision, and so that was an example of a surprise. a month later in june 2009 the president travels to cairo. skips israel. everyone notices it.

a good chunk part of the book, because it is a foundational document. it's twice as long as the first address. it is reck -- recognition of iran's right to have a peaceful nuclear program. we never had a chance to look at the cairo speech. it was a complete shock. i watched together with seniors at our pentagon, and everybody was looking at the television saying, oh, my god, we had no idea this was coming. this was the pattern. of the major policy statements made by the president on middle eastern issues, we never got a

previous look. the most difficult example was the speech that the president gave on may 19th, 2011. it was not supposed to be speech about israeli issues, but much of that speech was about the 67 borders with swaps. the notion that the peace between israel, two-state solution should be based on 67 borders with swaps was according to to the formula that we worked out with hillary clinton, secretary of state. so what the president did move israeli call. remember that?

i can only tell you they didn't lecture the president in the office because i wrote the script. all of the remarks were directed this means that israel didn't make mistakes and didn't violate the daylight. we surprised vice president biden who came to israel. we surprised. somebody announced a housing project and he was surprised and it created quite as they say in washington, six months later he flu up to new orleans and we did it again. and we surprised him, but i had to say that this was not a matter of policy. i was with him both times when it happened, was as much surprise as vice president was. he apologized that it was not a

matter of policy. we put into place an architecture that enabled us to better know when the announcements were coming and prepare our american counterparts for them. we could have done a much better job. the impression that israel was involved in the 2012 election, we were not involved. stay out of those elections, we could have done more to stay out of it. but the fact that there were policy decisions taken by this administration had long-term ramifications and very few of them were favorable. what can i say? it comes very important. does all of this mean that barack obama is antiisrael?

you get all -- this all of the time. no, he's proisrael. sometimes the image of israel he wants to see, it's not -- pre1967 israel. israel is much more democratic than it was before 1967, but no, i had many examples, many times where we needed the president and he was there for us, and in december 2010 i was across the street from the white house going into the party, not to be missed. you had the christmas decorations. you had jews in front of all the

wreaths, mistle toe. i got a call from the prime minister of israel using a voice that you don't want to hear him use, panic slows, -- panic voice. 26 people were dead, it was the worst fire in israel history. we had nothing to stop it. we had run out of orange stuff on back of the plane. we're in trouble. prime minister says we have to stay, go in and talk to the president. >> the good news is i'm across the street. i'll go in and i'll ask for help. i ran into the first lad -- lady chief of staff, and i said, i have to see the president right

away. i told her about the fire. come right in. go to to the president. israel needs you, this horrible fire consumed lives and trees, we need the planes. president turned into his right hand reggie love. we stayed there all night long into the next day, and the u.s. military scrubbed warehouses. america had 11 fighting plane, we got eight of them and you got the hot-shot commando. that he left idaho and arrived in time to fight the fire, so when people come to tell me that obama is antiisrael that he wasn't there that when he needed

him, it simply is not true. i get choked up again. the divides were any further so deep as on the issue of iran. this goes back to the world view. the president -- when he comes into office one of his first act is to give a new years greeting. i want to get into a different page with iran. first of all, to have a peaceful nuclear program. not many countries do. this is a problem for the state of israel. that's an understatement that it's a problem. why is it a problem? understand what the iranian nuclear program means to us? it's several threats. obvious one is they break out or sneak out of whatever

restrictions have been placed on them and they make a bomb. according to the program it will take them a year. they could do it in less than a month. it's too short for us. iranians have ballistic missiles. those my -- missiles have one purpose and carry a nuclear war head. we are the size of new jersey. only one bomb. that's the beginning of the threat. the threat continues. the threat is once iran gets the bomb the terrorist gets the bomb. iran is sponsoring terrorist. they threatened to blow up my

embassy. they were going to blow it up in georgetown. there were going to kill thousands of people. once iran gets the bomb, everybody gets the bomb, turkey gets the bomb. israel finds living in a nuclear neighborhood which is unstable. so it's multiple threats for us. now, does this mean we can't talk to the administration about the iranian issue? no we did talk. i participated in the talks. they are classified. they were very candid and we drived some of the some of the same police conclusions. very, very similar conclusions. we differed over structural

issues. i apologize, but america is a big country. it's far away from the middle east, it's not threatened by the iranians and america has the largest capabilities in the world. you have b2-bombers, wonderful things, we are located in the backyard of iran. we are threatened weekly. it's twice as big as the french and british combined but we don't have strategic bombers, our margin for errors is zero. america has some leeway. it really does. there were the ideological differences, maybe these were the most important differences of all. what do they say?

the president has gone on record. i always go back and look for quotes, but the president actually talks a tremendous about feelings and perception. i don't have to do much research, just have to quote him. he called it a rational regime. if properly engaged the iran regime, iran can be a responsible regional power, it can help solve the conflict. it operates on cost-benefit basis. that contrast that israel's position. those rational steps are gear today -- geared to insane goals. they are gentleman -- iran is

not north korea. iran is worth more than 50 north koreas. how a big of gap can you get? the gap widened perhaps -- it became clear that the united states had been negotiating without telling israel with iran and reached an agreement that would preserve the infrastructure of the iranian nuclear program. many of them would detached and not dismantled. the actual program would be retained, and the biggest problem from israel's perspective that there was no connection with the sanctions that had been put in place over a decade.

they have to give up terror, undermine, it was a true problem for us, and the situation kept detiro ira ting, can i say the word chicken -- [laughs] >> someone in the white house called chicken. [laughs] >> doesn't quite work in hebrew. they don't get it. the prime minister made a decision in last march to give a speech before the joint meeting of congress and that surprise it had president.

i was already running for government at the time. i completely agreed with the content of the speech. i more than agreed with the content of the speech, it was spot on. it was the prime minister's duty. he speaks not only for his own party by people of israel. we scream at each other, we throw chairs, we would. they're screwed down. this is a bad deal, and that the alternative to a bad deal is a better deal. we reject the notion that's either negotiations or war, no, there's negotiations or a better deal, which can ba -- be achieved by ramping up the sanctions and by putting to place a credible military threat

so iranians believe that they have paying a price for their program but at the end there will be military response and they will not have the bomb. that's where we stand. we have the deep divides. we have the name calling. there comes a certain point in the book that says, there's just one word i have, stop, enough already. we have been going on at this for six years. the book is a plea, it's a plea to is -- jews, americans. as i said earlier, as i opened my remarks, we need each other. israel knows that there's no

alternative for the united states, but standing with us in international forms, defending our democratic values and the united states knows that it has no alternative to israel, a country that is scientificically robust, strong, it is completely pro-american. you're not going to see american flags burnt in the streets. where can you say that about today? we have one another, and we have to be grateful for this. and begin to think about ways, how we can begin to restore this relationship which is so crucial for us. in the last pages, it's kind of a prescription about how both sides can begin the process of repair and get us to where we are. this is a relationship which i am deeply convinced in spite of everything that we've gone

through, is vital for what remains of stability but beneficial to the entire world. the book is a testament, it's a confession, truly comes from a deep place of love and caring. it's a testament to the love i still feel for the country of my birth, to the country of my birthright, the land of my father to the land of my mother -- forefathers. [applause] >> thank you.

now the hard questions. how do we do this. [inaudible conversations] >> thank you, embassador. the president is near the end of his term. how concerned are you that in these next few days that he will be more concerned than he is

legacy than supporting the state of israel? you all heard the question? legacy is an important issue. everyone thinks about their legacy and i -- in the book i explore, one of the phrases was the issue, i identified several issues in foreign policies that he had. i would always use the phrase you must understand, he seemed to be gauged with something else, maybe health care, he's going to come back to them. and i don't think i've been wrong on that. he's coming back to the iranian issue. he's going to try to build the legacy on the two of them.

those who read the book, i talk about the policy-making process where i make a certain recommendation to the prime minister. those of us of a certain generation remember that. take a few punches. be flexible as you can. then you can dig your -- you'll read about that debate. but last november there was a victory for the senate, republicans in the senate, and the israeli president -- i said, no, you're misreading this. a president who is blocked from advancing domestic policy by republican congress is going to turn to foreign policy, where he has the greatest prerogative and you should know coming to a

neighborhood near you there's going to be more presidential dealing's attention, the other issues to the middle east that will impact us like nonproliferation. it's something that israel has to take seriously. when we make decisions, when we make decisions, we always have to take into account their ramifications impact on american policy. we have to see the world not only through our eyes but america's eyes. we have to say to america thank you, thank you, thank you and only once in a while we have to say thank you but. this on iran is a thank you-but moment. >> thank you.

>> i would like to talk about antiterrorism. i would increase light to the united states to israel. is that em -- em enbolding? >> the administration has said for quite a long time that we are not going to cut aid to israel. congress is always increasing aid to israel. but the -- the administration's line increasing. i meet a lot of leaders now and i say, don't you ever get more

america's stick. why can't you have a more productive role? when someone says that publicly, we can't -- israel is going to be more isolated. israel is going to be boycott, sanctioned, that sounds like a threat. my friend jeffrey goldburg said on cnn, you will be ashamed if something happened to it. [laughs] >> that's the way it was interpreted. i think that there are elements in the world in europe who see that and see daylight and are encouraged. they are encouraged to go to the criminal court of justice. the french have been encouraged to perhaps put a security council resolution that will not be in israel advantage.

that's like sering daylight. don is one of my heros. >> there is. get the book. i haven't read it yet. thank you for as always a wonder talk and really, really important insights, and i haven't read the last four pages with the recommendations, but my question is can they possibly happen, whatever they are, with mr. yaho and i forget who our embassador is, before them in place? >> i won't try to belittle the question. i don't have to dodge questions. >> that's why i asked you. >> the answer is it won't be

easy. i think it's the iran agreement side. if i was in the iranian side i would not sign it because it has been demonstrated to them that the longer the holdout the more concessions they get. think about it from their perspective. watch to see if it gets delayed a bit. that's an opportunity, perhaps, to begin a conversation, and i think that -- i would not say the situation is hopeless. but we have to think long-term, the middle east is not going to get more stable. in the book i talk about -- everyone wants to point out success. look at yemen, it's great.

[laughs] >> look at egypt. latest one indicate -- unlike vietnam, there's no going home in the middle east. the middle east is going to come to you. isis is expanding. this alliance is not going to get less important. it's going to get more important as the years go on. we're going to have no choice, don, at some point to sit down and get in a better place. that's my answer, thanks. >> one of my favorite parties of allies was reading about the trips -- >> you are, you are. >> so to the soviet union what's the most impact that you had on

your journey and career? >> wow t book tells the story. when i got out of the army it was during the dark days in the soviet union. there were millions of jews that weren't free. it was illegal to study hebrew. it's hard to imagine today. and the state of israel took upon itself to send teams underground at some risk and to make contact. people were studying hebrew. all knew that they were going. we went together, and we made

contact with the undergunshotgr. we had to memorize all the contacts in russia, all the phone numbers in russian. oh, my. one that was easy. our first contact in moscow was a young man, i was able to remember the name pretty well tanned number. he met us there. arrested by the kgb. i don't wish this on anybody. the experience transformed me again, because i met the most courageous kids. a 16-year-old who was about 4'9.

she threw herself at these thugs and said, hit me instead. it stayed with me for. every time i came up against a tough situation, whether in battle or in washington, i remember what these people did. end of the story is i got elected and i was sworn in. the night i was sworn in i had my first vote and my first vote was to vote in favor of a candidate of the speaker. thank you. >> well, ever since i can remember i've admired israel and

felt the kinship. >> there's a butt at -- but at the end of the sentence. [laughs] >> i enjoyed your book but -- >> there you go. [laughs] >> i don't know how. it's an open source. >> it is. you referred a couple of times that glossed over the issue, to me that's really the the crux of really solve the issue and combine that what seems to me the awful statement that netyaho made in the eve of the elections. >> they are in the book, by the way. i don't gloss over anything. >> i don't understand that not taking any action on the

settlements -- >> i agree with you. i agree with you. i'm not -- i'm not an embassador anymore. i'm not a spokesman for anybody. without going into too much -- a great obama administration word. [laughs] >> is that there was an agreement struck, a very important dip -- diplomatic which recognizes that there be a two-state solution, that israel would retain certain territories. maybe some swaps, but the idea -- jewish neighbors of jerusalem lived in the borders and the settlement blocks, but only 2%

of the west bank. that's the basic math here. that's the math. that agreement was abandoned by obama. so what it meant that there was no difference in building a certain neighbor in jerusalem. it was a mistake as i'm concerned. i'm not the only one that thinks that. as part of the diplomatic in my party, the two-state situation. what i say is right now we don't really have a partner on the other side of the table. we don't know what a palestenian state would be. states like that don't last very long. we saved him. the idea for pullout saved him.

not very long. we have to be realistic. what is the two-state situation is, we only build in those areas settlements that are going to be part of our state. we are always at the table even though the chair opposite is empty, we remain to the idea of a two-state solution. i think we can have a new conversation with people in washington, i'm saying this from experience, and you know, it's not the current policy, the entire government but it's our policy and i'm going to be fighting for it. i agree with you. >> i think we may need to move- >> two or three questions together. i'll just do them very quickly. >> quickly, in the context of speaker boehner's invitation --

>> yes. >> there were small cracks on the solid bipartisan support if -- not for israel, at least for netanhao, do you have any concern about any danger to the slidty of bipartisan support for israel coming out of those circumstances? >> okay, i'll bundle them. >> it's going to be hard. this is detailed. >> short, though. >> this is a different question. you mentioned that nuclear facilities in iran have increased by the thousands in the last and so my -- my misunderstanding about this nuclear dale -- deal right now we have a b plus 1 coalitions

and we have sanctions on iran, but if there is no nuclear deal and russia pulls out and china pulse out, -- pulls out, what other solution do you see? >> we take that question very seriously. we ponder it at length. one more and i'll answer these three. >> thank you so much for coming. i'm a teacher. i teach and i'm curious as a historian, do you think that part of that course should entail some israel relationship and if so, what area of history that should encompass, any specific areas that students should be aware of. >> that's an easy question.

the what -- right now we accompd to iran. they're not arabs. the united states gets dragged. i think that as part of your syllabus on the course, there should be one course of the u.s.-israel relationship. when i say, it's been dragged not just materially but diplomatic, strategic. god forbid that supports for the state of israel should become the monopoly of one other, it would be very dangerous for us. it's one of the prescriptions at

the end of the book that we always have to ask ourselves we make it to a juncture. right now it's hugely difficult, and i was not supported of the prime minister, not an easy call for me to go to congress, it was because of my fears about bipartisan support. i did not agree with the context of the speech, it was the venue. and it is becoming difficult. i mentioned, political becomes very difficult. i described the elections of 2012, it was a traumatic periods both were trying to drag us into the debate. interesting enough. you have asked a very tough

question. one we ask ourselves and here is our answer, the answer is the israel intelligence estimate is that the russians, chinese and other would be extremely reluctant from the economy, even though that the congress backs away from the deal. iran will not be able to recover and there could be further sanctions by the united states on iran to make up for any slippage in the sanction regime. that argument that sanctions can't be maintained, the chinese and the russians are not negotiating in good faith, that -- [inaudible conversations] >> the big fear is the russians

will sell the hardware, military hardware. the question is cash. that's not going to help the iranian economy. they're paying for it. not getting money. >> last question. >> very significant thing happened today, a supreme court decision, we can attribute to young people both firmly for gay marriage, everything i read in the young people in iran is how they don't like the government, and that -- when you talk about what's going to happen, do you ever factor changes emanating from all the people dying -- >> let me ask you. i'm going to come back to the supreme court ruling today which is quite extraordinary.

iran had a dry run for the ar dominican republic >> they created a million man force. you go onyewu an antigovernment website in iran and you have to knock on the door and the third minute you're gone. they have learned to cope with these things. that is why when negotiators, talk about a ten-year period, it's called the sunset period. well, it's ten years, we don't think it's a long period of time. not with the time of antirebellion architecture that the iranians put in place. the iranians would be building their programs, they'll be putting more center fusions in.

in ten years plus one day, they can move ahead to 200 bombs. that's a big feeder. i would like to think that iranian people would say enough, we want a different future for ourselves. i would like to think so. as is -- we can't bank on that. i talk about the great -- not the great moments that i felt privileged to be embassador. one of them i was to give speech at the convention in philadelphia. israel was and remains a world leader in lgbt rights.

we have a way to go. we have a lot of rights. i want to share because i've been living in israel up to 40 years. i thought i knew the country. about three weeks ago i hosted lindsey graham for lunch. i took him and there was a debate about -- homophobia. they talk about