In rare comments on the civil war in Syria and the Iranian nuclear threat Finance Minister Yair Lapid told CNN Wednesday that the West must be prepared to offer more that "empty words" when dealing with both rogue regimes. "If you want to negotiate you better have a big stick in your hand -- or in this case a big Tomahawk. It's the Middle East; you have to have sticks with the carrots," he said.
Lapid, who was interviewed by senior CNN commentator Christiane Amanpour, said that the international community must be willing to back its statements with actions. Speaking about the situation in Syria he said, "Unless there is a credible threat, all the negotiations [on Syria] are just empty words. This is not over. It won't be over until all weapons of mass destruction will be out of Syria. Then we will know this whole move has succeeded."
Lapid reiterated statements made by other Israeli officials saying that U.S. President Barack Obama's "red line" on the use of unconventional weapons in Syria should be applied to Iran as well, and that Tehran must be made to realize that "the world will not be silent when regimes and dictatorships are gathering weapons of mass destruction."
Commenting on the somewhat mellower rhetoric coming out of Iran since President Hasan Rouhani took office in August -- including the fact that the new Iranian president and his foreign minister have embarked on something of a diplomatic Twitter campaign, even wishing Jews a happy new year -- Lapid said: "Of course I rather have people tweeting me happy Rosh Hashana or happy New Year instead of tweeting that they are, I don't know, Holocaust deniers as it was before. I don't want to be sour about everything, but is this the real thing-"
Lapid told CNN that in this case as well, Iran's statements must be backed by actions: "When the reactor in Qom will be closed, when they will stop enriching uranium, when they take off the enriched uranium they already have, then we can discuss the fact whether we can all hold hands and sing hallelujah together.
"I'm happy to listen to any new music coming from Iran," Lapid said, "but this has to be backed by -- not only by words but also by deeds."
Commenting on the recently resumed Israel-Palestinian peace talked and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's efforts to that effect, Lapid told CNN it was best to have realistic expectations. "The best things are happening when we have low expectations. The fact that everybody is going around and telling each other, this is not going to work, this is not going to happen, is actually a good thing."