Jerusalem - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed support Friday for US President Barack Obama's efforts to negotiate a compromise with Iran over its nuclear programme. Reacting for the first time to the joint deal drafted by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Netanyahu said he viewed as "positive" the proposal by the US, Russia and France that Iran should ship most of its enriched uranium abroad.
Netanyahu told reporters in Jerusalem before meeting Obama's Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, that he appreciated the US' efforts to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear military capability.
"I think that the proposal that the president made in Geneva to have Iran withdraw its enriched uranium, or a good portion of it, outside Iran is a positive first step in that direction," he said.
Netanyahu added he appreciated Obama's ongoing effort to "unite the international community" over the Iranian nuclear issue.
Iran has welcomed the US-French-Russian proposal as a "positive approach," but demanded "important" amendments to it.
Until Netanyahu's statement, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak had been the only government member to have reacted publicly.
Barak warned of a "fly in the ointment."He argued the proposal - while setting Iran's progress toward a nuclear weapon back by about one year - effectively granted international recognition of Iranian enrichment and failed to end all enrichment on Iranian soil.
Israel's Channel 10 television spoke of an "about-face" in Israel's attitude. It quoted "political sources" as saying the shift came after officials in Washington sent messages to the Netanyahu government over the past days, expressing ire over Barak's negative response to the draft and demanding that Israel place itself in line with the rest of the West regarding the proposed deal.
Israel's reaction is regarded as important because of widespread speculation that it might strike Iran's nuclear facilities if diplomacy fails.
Israel has repeatedly warned that while it has a clear preference for diplomatic international pressure, it will not remove the military option from the table to prevent Iran from becoming a regional nuclear power threatening it.
