A CONVERSATION WITH EHUD OLMERT Interim Israeli Prime Minister

We will not tolerate any attempt to torture the Palestinian population for their government's lack of responsibility and decency. We will certainly not punish the population and create a humanitarian disaster in any of the territories.

Will Israel turn over money to the Hamas government, as it did to the PA?

When we dealt with a responsible Palestinian government, we transferred all the monies. [Now] we will keep them and look for ways to allocate them directly to the population for humanitarian needs. We will not give a check to a Palestinian minister of finance, because how can we be certain that it will not be used for terror?

Could Iran give Hamas enough money to support its government?

I hope they will not do it and I hope that if they try, we, together with our friends in America and Europe, will find ways to prevent this. Iran is an anti-Semitic, terrorist government.

Regarding the Iranian nuclear program, is there a military option?

There is only one thing I can say: Israel will not tolerate a situation in which Iran has effective control of non-conventional weapons that can be used directly against the state of Israel.

That would mean that Israel would have to attack Iran .

I hope we will not have to face this choice and they will be stopped by diplomatic measures.

Do you believe the international community will continue to boycott Hamas?

I believe that if there is a united international front, there may be a chance to change the basic attitudes of the Hamas government. Why should they take steps to change their policies if they can get away with not doing it?

What did you learn from Ariel Sharon?

I learned many things. Perhaps the most important is the importance of remaining cool at a time of crisis. I also learned the merits of changing your opinion and your mind. Sharon had the courage, at a certain junction in his very rich and extraordinary political career, to adopt new positions because, as he said, "What you see from here [as prime minister] is not what you see from there [not being prime minister]."

I think what he meant is that when the ultimate responsibility was on his shoulders, he had to be somewhat less idealistic about his grand schemes for the Land of Israel and more realistic.

Do you think you had some influence on Sharon ?

I'm sure I did. I was the first to talk about disengagement in the year 2000. I had many discussions with Sharon, and he told me the first time I talked to him about disengagement, "I'm 100 percent with you and I will deliver." That was in November 2003.

I said that if the Palestinians are not ready for a meaningful political dialogue, then we will have to act unilaterally. And after that I tried to convince him to start laying the foundations for the creation of a new party that would be better able to deal with the political ramifications of a disengagement strategy.

He was absolutely determined to carry on with the implementation of a plan to the very end, as he did.