Monday, 18 May 2009

Washington has abandoned its obligations
Caroline B. Glick


Last Sunday, the head of Israel's military intelligence reported that Iran 
has mastered the nuclear fuel cycle and can rapidly move from low-grade 
uranium enrichment to weapons-grade uranium enrichment. He also said that 
the next 18 months will be "critical" for preventing Iran from acquiring 
nuclear weapons.
There is a national consensus in Israel that preventing Iran from acquiring 
nuclear weapons is the most important and urgent national-security challenge 
facing the country. Even if Iran refrains from using the weapons directly 
against Israel, a nuclear-armed Iran will accelerate its efforts to 
destabilize and destroy the Jewish state by using its proxies in the 
Palestinian Authority, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq to wage constant, 
unrelenting terror, guerrilla and conventional warfare.
A nuclear arsenal will likewise help Iran to expand its sphere of influence 
by empowering it to escalate its efforts to overthrow the Jordanian and 
Egyptian regimes, and accelerate Hamas' takeover of the Palestinian 
Authority, scuttling peace negotiations and peace treaties with Israel. 
Other Arab states - including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Morocco, and Kuwait - 
will also see their regimes threatened or overthrown by radical forces 
operating under Iran's nuclear umbrella.
And this is the best-case scenario.
It is no wonder, then, that Israelis of all political stripes are deeply 
disturbed by the Obama administration's Middle East policies. Since taking 
office, President Obama has made it clear that preventing Iran from 
acquiring nuclear weapons is not a major concern for him. Rather, he strives 
to open diplomatic relations with Iran in the inexplicable hope that Iran 
can be appeased out of a nuclear program that has already brought it to the 
cusp of regional hegemony.
Over the last several weeks, as part of the buildup to tomorrow's meeting 
between Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the 
administration has ratcheted up its rhetoric against Israel. Vice President 
Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, national security adviser 
James Jones, and White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel are among those who 
have stated that Israel cannot expect the United States to support its aim 
of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons unless Israel first makes 
concessions to the Palestinians. That is, if Iran acquires nuclear weapons, 
Israel will be to blame.
Israelis are mystified by this position. With Iran's proxy Hamas in charge 
of Gaza, and ascendant in the West Bank, it is clear that any Palestinian 
state that is established in the near future will be an Iranian-aligned 
terror state at war with Israel. That is, while administration officials 
claim "the only solution is a two-state solution," Israelis recognize that 
the rapid establishment of a Palestinian state will only cause more war, 
terror, and regional instability.
Moreover, statements by Biden and Defense Secretary Robert Gates expressing 
the administration's opposition to an Israeli military strike against Iran's 
nuclear installations, together with Assistant Secretary of State Rose 
Gottemoeller's recent call for Israel to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation 
Treaty, have led many Israelis to perceive a strategic and moral blindness 
informing the administration's views about Israel and Iran. Apparently, for 
the administration, there is no difference between Israel, a stalwart U.S. 
ally and fellow democracy, and Iran - a terror-supporting, 
human-rights-violating, self-declared enemy of the United States that has 
been attacking U.S. citizens, interests, and allies since the 1979 Islamic 
revolution, and has repeatedly called for Israel to be eradicated.
A poll taken earlier this month by Bar Ilan University showed that only 38 
percent of Israelis view Obama as friendly toward Israel. Moreover, 66 
percent of Israelis support a military strike on Iran's nuclear 
installations, and only 15 percent say they believe Israel should cancel an 
attack on Iran if the United States opposes the operation.
These data are important for understanding how Israelis are responding to 
the Obama administration's apparent hostility toward Israel and its 
perceived preference for a nuclear-armed Iran over any concerted action by 
the United States or Israel to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power. 
What the administration is signaling Israelis - and their government - is 
that Washington is no longer Israel's trusted ally. Indeed, it is becoming 
clear to the Israeli public that, for the administration, it doesn't matter 
what Israel does or what its enemies do. As far as Obama and his advisers 
are concerned, Israel's refusal to make further concessions to the 
Palestinians will be the cause for whatever transpires.
In this state of affairs, on the eve of the Obama-Netanyahu meeting, more 
and more Israelis have come to the conclusion that there is little point in 
taking Washington's views into consideration. If Washington is going to 
blame Israel anyway, we are better off being blamed for preemptively 
removing the threat of a new Holocaust than for allowing that threat to 
become a fact of life.

Caroline B. Glick is the senior contributing editor and columnist for the 
Jerusalem Post and senior fellow for Middle Eastern affairs at the Center 
for Security Policy

Posted by Britannia Radio at 13:31