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| Shmuley Boteach |
There
is nothing wrong with an Israeli Prime Minister doing his utmost to prevent
Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, even if it offends the sensibilities of
the American president. A nation that has experienced the world’s worst
genocide just 70 years ago has not just a right but an obligation to take
seriously any existential threats that loom against it.
Iran
is a genocidal regime. It has stated on countless occasions that it will
destroy and annihilate Israel. And it is now building the doomsday weapons that
can translate rhetoric into action.
For
years Iran has been hell-bent on developing nuclear weapons. The Obama
Administration’s strategy to engage the Islamic tyranny in talks has produced
no demonstrable results. Unfreezing Iran’s financial assets has only emboldened
the brutal regime in continuing its genocidal rhetoric against Israel and
disgusting human rights abuses.
While
the administration indulges Iran’s stalling tactics, Iranian centrifuges
continue to spin. And with every minute that Tehran gets closer to realizing
its diabolical nuclear dream, the civilized world inches closer to its peril.
And this is especially true of Israel, which sits in the crosshairs of Iranian
rage.
Iran
is running out the clock. According to the IAEA Iran already has 13,397
kilograms of Uranium enriched to 3.5% Uranium-235. If they use all 9,000 of
their reactors at Natanz, the Iranians could enrich this further to the
weapon-grade level of 90% Uranium-235 in just over a month and a half. And, if
Iran’s close ally North Korea can serve as an example, they absolutely will.
The
consequences of Iran obtaining a nuclear bomb are catastrophic – for Israel,
the Middle East, and the entire freedom-loving world. Israel would be under
existential threat and would have its hands tied in any dealings with Iranian
proxies such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad. The Middle East would be
instantly destabilized, with a nuclear arms race certain to take off. And with
the rogue state wielding end-of-days capabilities, the entire world would be
forced to witness all levels of Iranian belligerence, virtually unable to
intervene.
With
so much at stake, it seems that the last thing we should be concerned about is
offending President Obama. The American president is human just like the rest
of us. He can be wrong. He can make mistakes, just like the rest of us. He does
not enjoy the divine right of kings. He is not infallible. And if he is
offended by being second-guessed by the leader of a nation that had more than a
million children gassed to death seven decades ago, he’ll get over it.
The
implications of a nuclear Iran for the world are far greater than such simple
considerations as the wounded ego of the leader of the free world or a breach
of diplomatic protocol.
I do
not envy the position of Prime Minister Netanyahu. He lives every day with the
realization that if he errs in the confrontation with Iran the consequences for
his people are catastrophic, devastating, and irreversible. History will hold
him completely accountable for his failure to protect Israel.
Now, when
it comes to launching a military strike against the Iranian nuclear apparatus,
we can argue that perhaps the risks of something going horribly wrong are
simply too great. Many have already said so. But can the same argument really
be made of a speech delivered to the United States Congress by invitation of
the House Speaker? What are the terrible consequences that would ensue that
should prevent the Prime Minister of Israel going before the United States
Congress to call for increased sanctions against Iran?
News
reports are now saying that Obama administration officials are threatening
serious consequences for Israel and the Prime Minister because of this breach
of protocol. In fact, Ha’aretz just quoted an anonymous US official as saying
that “Netanyahu spat in our face…there will be a price.” I had no idea that Al
Capone worked in the Administration.
Such
mafia language is beneath aides to the President of the United States. I, for
one, have become fatigued with the continuous threats issued to the press by
“undisclosed sources” in the administration against Israel.
Is it
not unseemly for America to continually issue anonymous threats against it
staunchest ally, especially when the rest of the world is going to hell in a
hand-basket?
Perhaps
the Obama administration should threaten President Bashar Assad to stop
slaughtering his people in Syria and actually, this time, do something about
it. Perhaps President Obama should threaten devastating and immediate
consequences for ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi should he continue to kill
Western hostages with impunity, rather than the just the airstrikes that have
not stopped the vile beheadings. Perhaps officials of the Obama Administration
can focus their energies on occasionally mentioning the words “Islamic terror”
rather than continually threatening the sole democracy in the Middle East with
“consequences.”
Israel
is not America’s threat. Why President Obama despises Netanyahu so deeply is
beyond me. Can the explanation really be that Bibi doesn’t accord Obama
sufficient respect? Even if that were true, it would explain why Obama dislikes
him. But not why he positively despises him, seemingly more than almost every
other world leader.
Regardless,
the Prime Minister of Israel is not elected principally to understand the
mindset of the American president. He is elected first and foremost to defend a
nation that has experienced more hatred, more torture, more bloodletting, and
more wholesale slaughter than any nation on earth. That Prime Minister has the
responsibility to do everything in his power to protect the Jewish people in
Israel from a nuclear annihilation.
One
holocaust is quite enough.
