If Israel wants to help the US isolate Iran, it must stop its support of the settlements and Jewish development in east Jerusalem, former US ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk told Army Radio Wednesday morning.

When asked by Army Radio if Israel had to choose between Washington and a settlement such as Nokdim, Indyk responded, "Yes." He warned that Israel stood to jeopardize its historically strong relationship with the US if it continued to take steps that harmed America's vital interests in the Middle East.

The US believes that the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict has harmed its efforts to isolate Iran and prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons, said Indyk.

He also said that Obama has not ruled out a military option.

"The President [Barack Obama] told Bibi [Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu] in his first meeting that the military option was on the table. It has never been taken off the table by President Obama. What has been taken off the table is the policy of engagement with the Iranians," said Indyk.

Instead the US now seeks to isolate Iran, and it needs Israel to support those efforts by meeting Palestinian demands, a move that would relaunch the peace process, Indyk said...

Hours after former US ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu must choose between satisfying American demands or the members of his party, Likud MK Danny Danon launched a campaign to emphasize opposition to Netanyahu's West Bank building moratorium.

In an interview with Army Radio, Indyk reiterated many of the sentiments that he expressed in an opinion piece published in The New York Times, but added that Netanyahu's "problem is not [Foreign Minister Avigdor] Lieberman or [Interior Minister Eli] Yishai but within the Likud Party itself." Lieberman and Yishai are chairmen of Israel Beiteinu and Shas, respectively.

"If I am the problem, then I am very proud to be part of the problem," responded Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein (Likud) in an interview with The Jerusalem Post. "As far as I remember, regarding predictions that I made about the outcomes of [diplomatic] processes in which Indyk participated in, I and not he turned out to be right...