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Press TV has conducted an interview with Ralph Schoenman, an author and political commentator, from Berkeley, California about the issue of US-Israeli ties. 

- Recent developments regarding the US-Iran ties... Many believe that President Barak Obama is swimming against the tide of the very powerful Israeli and Zionist lobbies in the United States. Do you see it in that light as well and if so how far can he swim?

- Well, I want to point out that American imperialism always had its own agenda and Israel has been central to it because the Zionist state functions as the attack dog for imperialism in the region.

In a report today in the Associated Press for example, in which it discusses the meeting that is projected between Netanyahu and Obama, it’s indicated that Netanyahu intends to speak at the United Nations about the fact, as he calls it, that Iran has called for wiping Israel off the map. Now, that of course is a fabrication. Ahmadinejad never called for wiping anything off the map.

The position has been that the Zionist state denies the rights of the Palestinian people and that there should be a society and government that acknowledges and enshrines the rights of the people that have been dispossessed. That’s not the same thing as wiping something off the map as everybody understands.

I mention that because it’s indicative of the type of propaganda one can anticipate not merely from Netanyahu, but Netanyahu serving as a ‘cat’s paw’ for the demands of US imperialism itself.

For example, with respect to the nuclear capacity for Iran for nuclear energy, they will demand inspections and they will demand a continued monitoring of Iran’s activity subject to their interpretation and to their fabrication - that has to be kept in mind.

It should be born in mind... I should add that John Kerry in regard to the United Nations resolution for the turning over of chemical weapons by the government of Syria for international control, added that part of that should be a requirement that Assad step down.

One sees very quickly what the agenda is. First they advance an arrangement for internationalization of chemical capacity ‘only for Syria,’ not for Israel, not for the United States. And then they quickly add that part of that will have to include the removal of the regime.

I think we should bear in mind that when Netanyahu comes he will represent the voice of imperialism, not just the voice of the Israeli state.

And indeed, with respect to the demands that will be made upon Iran, they will also require - you can be sure - that the acceptance and the recognition of Israel is part of any such understanding.

So, we have to be clear that to really obtain a peace in the region, one will have to challenge and abandon imperial policies, of which the Israeli demands are but an intergrowth component. That is part of the ... what is taking place.

And facing the United States with the obligation to turn its back on war mobilizes public opinion importantly.

But one should not forget what the real agenda of imperialism is and Netanyahu’s visit will evoke that very clear indication of what the further demands will be down the road.