‘… a veritable abyss between Israel and America’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Washington next week, a much-anticipated visit in which the prime minister and President Obama will try to find common ground.
David Horovitz, editor of the conservative Jerusalem Post, writes in a new piece that the task will be difficult if not impossible. In fact, he warns of “a veritable abyss between Israel and America — a rupture that goes far beyond rhetorical gaps and conflicting emphases.” The cause of that rupture are Iran and its nuclear program.
“Where Iran is concerned, Israel’s red lines are drawn in a very different – earlier — place than those of the United States. Israelis worry — existentially — that the Iranians may use the bomb if they get it, or supply it to a third party. But short of its use, Israelis worry about the shift in the Middle East balance of power that would be produced by a nuclear Iran; the regional nuclear arms race it would spark; the knock-out blow to Israeli-Arab normalization; the emboldening of Hamas and Hezbollah; and the greater indifference to international pressures that Iran would feel when considering which weaponry to provide for these vicious proxies to the top and bottom of Israel.
And so, in a week’s time, it can be safely assumed that Netanyahu will tell Obama flatly that Israel will not accept a nuclear Iran, and that the point of no return is looming — a message laden with implications regarding possible Israeli action in its own defense…. Israel’s leadership has come to fear that our country’s existence is at stake, and America offers no solace.”
Horovitz sets a deadline of the end of the year, if not earlier, for concrete success in halting Iran’s nuclear program. Otherwise, he says, Israel will act militarily on its own. He also acknowledges that even with a massive airstrike of a thousand bombing sorties or more against Iranian targets, “there would be no guarantee that replicated covert facilities were not left standing.”
Overall, the Horovitz piece reads like a semi-official policy statement by the Israeli government, all but guaranteeing unilateral military action by Israel.
He notes two previous occasions in which Israeli bombers have destroyed Arab nuclear facilities, at Iraq’s Osirak reactor in 1981 and at the mysterious reactor site in Syria two years ago. Both were successful; neither generated much in the form of repercussions.
However, the consequences of a similar strike against Iran — economically, politically, militarily — would be enormous and unpredictable, for Israel, Iran, the United States and the world. The position of both the Bush and Obama administrations has been that the military option cannot be justified given questionable odds of success, and that isn’t likely to change. Obama has already invested heavily in trying to change Iran’s course, but I doubt that even the most optimistic in his administration expect success within the timeline laid out by Horovitz.
But if Horovitz’ message is indeed a public echo of the message that Netanyahu intends to deliver in private, next week’s discussions could be the most consequential of Obama’s young presidency.
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126 comments Add your comment
@@
May 12th, 2009
12:29 pm
The abyss that many liberals have been calling for, jay.
You’re right! It’s make or break time for Obama who has publicly committed himself to AIPAC.
If I could’a thrown my hands up to stop the ocean’s flow, I would’a but since I couldn’t, I’ll just sit back and enjoy the entertainment.
There have been a couple of bouts I’ve been anxiously awaiting. Netanyahu vs Obama was one.
Copyleft
May 12th, 2009
12:31 pm
Sounds like Israel has some problems, all right.
Give me a buzz when America needs to care.
@@
May 12th, 2009
12:34 pm
…and you know what, jay! I would love to see a face to face confrontation/debate between Cheney and Obama. Netanyahu is the next best thing. He very much reminds me of Cheney.
say what?
May 12th, 2009
12:37 pm
Support Israel, bomb Iran. End of discussion!
Hillbilly Deluxe
May 12th, 2009
12:43 pm
Any nation that thinks it’s facing possible annihilation will do whatever it thinks is necessary to survive. It’s basic human nature.
Joe Matarotz
May 12th, 2009
12:48 pm
Iran has no use for Israel and no respect for the United States. As far as they are concerned, both we and the Israelis are infidels that must be eradicated. I said it here before; when the first mushroom cluod rises over Israel, the current economic crisis will pale by comparison to what follows. You don’t need to like either side. You just need to realize that things will get much worse than they are now and there will not be a stimulus package that will turn it around.
jewcowboy
May 12th, 2009
12:49 pm
Hillbilly Deluxe,
“Any nation that thinks it’s facing possible annihilation will do whatever it thinks is necessary to survive. It’s basic human nature.”
And they certainly have the right to defend themselves. How would American feel if Canada wanted to destroy the U.S*. and were developing a nuclear program? No matter how benign it may be, it is still a direct threat.
*Other than with vapid Celine Dion songs and ghastly Keanu Reeves films.
Bosch
May 12th, 2009
12:50 pm
Well there in lies another problem – Israel’s military is basically OUR military too – at least the weapons and cash are.
Copyleft @ 12:31 – I agree with that assessment. If Israel wants to commit national suicide – far be it from us to get caught providing the weapon – oh wait, we’ve already done that.
Yeah, with Israel – this is what happens when you elect far right wingers to dictate national foreign policy – didn’t work out well for us – you think they’d have paid attention.
Slick
May 12th, 2009
12:52 pm
Jay,
I think that it is high time that the U.S. realize that the interests of Israel and those of the U.S. are NOT the same, and to stop thinking and acting as if they were. We need to develop a more balanced Middle East Policy, and stop blindly and unconditionally supporting and financing ANYTHING and EVERYTHING Israel does, and the way they treat the Palestinians.
George American
May 12th, 2009
12:53 pm
Despite my concern about their religion and killing our lord, I think I am starting to like the “Israelis.”
They’re tough, or at least are talking the talk, and don’t take any crap from the arabs. We could learn something from these guys.
Bosch
May 12th, 2009
12:53 pm
jewcowboy,
I’m interested in your take on things – and yes, I’m assuming your Jewish because of your name. Really curious though.
I have a good friend who is Jewish and he’s kind of done a 180 over the past couple of years – visited the West Bank, plans to go over there and teach for a bit soon. Visiting the area really had a huge impact on him.
I really am curious to know how you feel.
Ben Stein
May 12th, 2009
12:54 pm
Oh god forbid, more whining Israelis. Oh vey the kvetching!
Susan Myers
May 12th, 2009
12:56 pm
No sympathy for Israel here.
ty webb
May 12th, 2009
12:58 pm
a lot of sympathy for Israel here.
Taxpayer
May 12th, 2009
1:01 pm
Blah blah blah. This whole argument about Israel being nuked if the wrong people get their hands on the bomb is so lame. If Israel wants to start a war with Iran or vice versa, let them. Get it over with and move on. Be done with it. Kill as many as needed to make both sides feel like they can proudly wave a Mission Accomplished banner back home in front of everyone that even gives a flip one way or the other.
zip
May 12th, 2009
1:02 pm
This is going to come to a head before the end of the year. Israel will act before we pull too many of our troops out of Iraq. I would expect that they will go right after Netanyahu returns from Washington with his gift of DVDs and pork rinds from those classy Obamas….
pat
May 12th, 2009
1:07 pm
Israel has a right to defend itself. Given the repeat calls for Israel’s destruction by iran, I will not blame them if the prempt them. It may be their only choice.
jewcowboy
May 12th, 2009
1:08 pm
Bosch,
To me, Israel is just a country, like any other. They’ve create many of their own problems, but being despised and wanting to be annihilated by all of your neighbors tends to make you see things from a different perspective.
But really, the UN decision to partition part of Palestine in ‘47 to create Israel was about the most bone-headed ideas ever conceived.
BDAtlanta
May 12th, 2009
1:09 pm
Israel needs to defend itself. Heck, Canada defends itself!
George American
May 12th, 2009
1:13 pm
Amen, Taxpayer. The only reason these problems seep into American dialogue is due to the jewish control of the media and lobbyist controlled by wealthy jewish concerns.
Let them fight it out. It will save American lives and money.
This is not a real problem for the average American who is just hoping to keep his job and not starve to death in retirement. Don’t let the media and the lobbyist make it seem like an American problem.
zip
May 12th, 2009
1:13 pm
So, if Netanyahu does not cooperate with Obama, will he be told to resign like the CEO of GM?
david wayne osedach
May 12th, 2009
1:15 pm
Israel may be able to stop or delay Irans nuclear capability right now. But in the future it will be increasingly impossible to do as rogue nuclear bombs come up for sale to the highest bidder. Then the question will be if they use them.
jewcowboy
May 12th, 2009
1:16 pm
Taxpayer,
“Get it over with and move on.”
The problem with that is Israel has never signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation treaty and most assume it posse’s nuclear weapons. That becomes all of our problem.
In addition, a war between Israel and the Arab states would send oil through the roof. We would see our economy and way of life grind to a halt. You think $4 a gallon was bad, just wait to see what it would be if war broke out there, or oil fields suddenly had a half life of 20,000 years.
WhoCares
May 12th, 2009
1:17 pm
Can’t have it both ways. We need to either support Israel or get out of the way and let them take care of the situation themselves. I thought Jimmy Carter had this problem solved…..guess not!
jewcowboy
May 12th, 2009
1:17 pm
“posse’s”
Dang spell check…possesses.
jewcowboy
May 12th, 2009
1:21 pm
George American,
“Let them fight it out. It will save American lives and money.”
Possibly in the long-term, but most decidedly not in the short term. Oil markets would be disrupted quite drastically, and then who would be complaining about how much it costs to fill up the Honda. Never mind our whole economy runs on oil.
WhoCares
May 12th, 2009
1:21 pm
“posse’s”….I thought I done learned a new word…lol
@@
May 12th, 2009
1:21 pm
Don’t forget, jay…last night I reported:
According an UNIFIL source, the total force in Lebanon is expected to drop to around 5,000 troops by the end of May. The Lebanese government wants them to hang around until after elections. No can do!
Could be Netanyahu is going for a two-front assault. One on Iran’s proxies, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the other….Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Netanyahu’s MOAB Strategy.
Wouldn’t that be interesting?
@@
May 12th, 2009
1:24 pm
Environmentalists should have gotten out of the way 30 years ago. We’d be producing from our own energy sources. What happens in the ME would have been of no consequence.
zip
May 12th, 2009
1:25 pm
I keep seeing comments about “if war breaks out” or “if Israel starts a war”. Does anyone here read the news or history books? Israel has been at war since it was founded in 1947. Israel was attacked by it’s neighbors. Repeatedly. There has been a constant state of war in the region since that time (actually well before then). Iran has repeatedly called for the annihilation of Israel. Why would anyone not take them at their word? The abyss is between anyone’s ears who thinks that our government can intervene with any success. The so called “peace process” has failed repeatedly. How do you negotiate in good faith with someone who just wants you dead at any cost.
jewcowboy
May 12th, 2009
1:27 pm
zip,
“How do you negotiate in good faith with someone who just wants you dead at any cost.”
With a realllly big gun.
Dave R
May 12th, 2009
1:28 pm
jewcowboy, Re: your 12:49 comment:
I think we can take Canada . . .
Copyleft
May 12th, 2009
1:30 pm
Well, Zip, you might want to look into policies labeled “containment.” They’ve had a good degree of success in a lot places where we’ve used them. Better than all-out war, more forceful than just whining and complaining.
Of course, it takes some brains and diplomacy to handle it properly… thank goodness we’ve got some in office now!
jasper
May 12th, 2009
1:34 pm
Unbelievalbe, Keanu Reaves is Canadian, that explains it, he runs like he’s wearing ice skates.
jewcowboy
May 12th, 2009
1:34 pm
Dave R,
“I think we can take Canada . . .”
Just wait until Celine starts screeching, you’ll surrender quick enough.
I Report :-)/ You Whine :-(
May 12th, 2009
1:35 pm
Obama has already invested heavily in trying to change Iran’s course.
Oh yeah, he sent them a video of himself.
Waving the white flag, no doubt.
WhoCares
May 12th, 2009
1:38 pm
but what would we do with canada after we took ‘em? Keep Shania Twain and Hockey and throw the rest back?
zip
May 12th, 2009
1:39 pm
Copyleft- “Containment”? Like the Clinton administration did in North Korea? Containment is just putting off the inevitable. It’s a close cousin to appeasement and works about as well. It takes brains to know when diplomacy will work and when it won’t. Frankly, I have more faith in our Secretary of State than I do in our Commander in Chief but that’s not a lot. I don’t think Obama will have the opportunity for diplomacy. I think Israel will act in their own best interest long before we do anything. Obama has a pile on his plate already.
Dave R
May 12th, 2009
1:40 pm
jewcowboy, See, you had to go and mention Celine Dion, didn’t you? Now I’ll have that darned Titanic song in my head all day! (Although that does remind me of Slim Whitman songs defeating the Martians in Mars Attacks!)
A pox on you . . .
jewcowboy
May 12th, 2009
1:41 pm
WhoCares,
“but what would we do with canada after we took ‘em? Keep Shania Twain and Hockey and throw the rest back?”
Catch and release, huh?
Dave R
May 12th, 2009
1:43 pm
Let’s keep their Canadian beer, Shania Twain (great idea, BTW), hockey, and Bob and Doug MacKenzie. Leave Quebec to fend on their own.
jewcowboy
May 12th, 2009
1:44 pm
Dave R,
See? The mere mention of that most dreaded of Canadian warriors and you’re already on your knees, hands over your ears trying to expel the demons for who their hearts do go on.
jewcowboy
May 12th, 2009
1:50 pm
Dave R,
“Bob and Doug MacKenzie.”
I LOVE that movie!
WhoCares
May 12th, 2009
1:52 pm
“take off, ya Hoser”
sd
May 12th, 2009
1:58 pm
There are obviously a lot of varying opinions on every subject presented right here on this blog by Americans, so I am often surprised to read someone’s opinion that starts with “Iran wants….” or “Isrealis feel…”.
It doesn’t make sense in that there is no more of a united sentiment on issues in Iran or Isreal than there are here. IN the case of Iran, the lack of free speech may silence those dissenting, but make no mistake, there are many who dissent with whatever opinion you are ascribing to an entire nation of people.
radiowxman
May 12th, 2009
2:01 pm
The leaders of Israel aren’t stupid. They know how to fight wars, they know how to defend themselves. That tends to happen when every one of your neighbors would like nothing more than to push your population into the sea.
They don’t want to start a war against a nation with Iran. Because if they do, Syria and Lebanon would jump in, and all of a sudden, they’d be a target of the Taliban and other groups funded by Iran.
However, they obviously believe the potential of Iranian nukes is inherently more dangerous than a resumption of regional hostilities.
What’s interesting is that a lot of other Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, don’t want Iranian nukes either. But they’re more than willing to let the Israelis do the dirty work for them.
Now, it will be interesting to see if the Obama administration will help out. Since the whole world loves us now that he’s in office, that should be easy.
I Report :-)/ You Whine :-(
May 12th, 2009
2:02 pm
There’s little belt-tightening in evidence in Washington, D.C.: Counting benefits, the average pay per federal worker will leap from $72,800 in 2008 to $75,419 next year.
Millions of Americans on Social Security are receiving $250 checks as part of the president’s stimulus plan — including an Anne Arundel woman who died more than 40 years ago.
Aahhh, yes, money is no object when it belongs to someone else’s children.
eewwwww
N.J,
May 12th, 2009
2:05 pm
Historically, Israel has attacked its neighbors, largely on assertions that were later proven untrue, more than all other nations in the world put together have since 1948.
After the Arabs lost the Arab/Israeli war of 1948, the next time they attacked Israel was in 1973, and this in response to the Israelis moving troops to the border of every Arab nation. On the other hand, Iran has not attacked any neighbor for over 300 years, and shut down its own nuclear program started under the Shah and didnt start it up again until George Bush started making threats against them again, simply because he wants their oil, the same way he wanted Iraq’s oil.
Iraq and Iran together have more oil reserves than all the rest of the Middle East put together.
The Iranians have always taken a defensive posture, rather because in the Muslim world they have been a minority for centuries, and always under the rule of the Sunni majority. The Islamic Revolution of 1979, was the first time that Iran was not controlled by an outside power, either directly or indirectly, for over a thousand years, and all the BS about how dangerous they would be with nukes is just that. B.S.
The Iranians have repeatedly said “Stop threatening our regime and Islamic government” and we will stop our nuclear ambitions.
They COULD have developed a weapon between 1979 and 2000 with no problem had they kept their reactor operative during that period. They didnt because no one threatened them.
Tom
May 12th, 2009
2:07 pm
Good ol’ Israel. Sucking completely off of us for 60 years and counting. But speak not a word of it lest you are called “anti-semitic.” Where are all our Repub Chickenhawks? Ahh, quietly resting comfortably deep within that ever-dangerous…”Green Zone.” Where true warriors and heroes dwell. Iraq gone before a shot was fired. Next came Afghanistan. Gone. Mother Russia proved that futility long before out Softies got there. Now Pakistan is firmly in the sights of USA destruction. Bring em ALL on, eh BushDrunks!?! Missions accomplished!!
jewcowboy
May 12th, 2009
2:12 pm
I Report
/ You Whine 
“the average pay per federal worker will leap from $72,800 in 2008 to $75,419 next year.”
My Mom worked for the DoD for 40 years, and was earning $130,000 a year at retirement. She had top secret clearance, for which there were many sacrifices, and was head hunted all the time by companies such as Boeing, Martin-Thiokol and IBM, with signing bonus and salaries for many more thousands of dollars than what she made with the federal government. She stayed because she felt a duty to serve her country.
But then, I guess she was just suckling the teat of the government with her expertise.