ISRAEL ALONE: MELANIE PHILLIPS
http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/
Israel alone
Wednesday, 17th March 2010
Under a hail of domestic critisism over its reckless and unforgiveable inslaught against Israel, Hillary Clinton – deputed by Obama to do his dirty work last week – is now trying to defuse the crisis by adopting a more emollient tone. But Pandora’s box has now been opened, and the vicious creature that emerged cannot be put back again.
The ever-sagacious John Bolton understands this very well, and more importantly understands where it is leading. In the Wall Street Journal today, he says Netanyahu’s strategy of trying to accommodate Obama – ‘America’s first post-American President’ — has now been shown to be fatally flawed. The real issue is, of course, Iran; and the brutal and chilling message from this week’s brouhaha is that when it comes to stopping Iran from getting the bomb, Israel really is on its own.
On the Palestinian front, Mr. Netanyahu’s government has tolerated 14 months of feckless administration diplomacy that has not altered geopolitical realities between Israel and the Palestinians…
On Iran, Mr. Netanyahu has faithfully supported Mr. Obama’s diplomacy, hoping to build credibility with the president against the day when Israel might have to strike Iran’s weapons program pre-emptively. Jerusalem, for example, currently backs U.S. efforts to increase sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program, doomed to failure though they are. As time passes, Israel’s military option grows more difficult and the chances for success shrink as Iran seeks new air-defense systems and further buries and hardens nuclear facilities.
Mr. Netanyahu’s mistake has been to assume that Mr. Obama basically agrees that we must prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. But the White House likely believes that a nuclear Iran, though undesirable, can be contained and will therefore not support using military force to thwart Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
What’s more, Mr. Obama is also unwilling to let anyone else, namely Israel, act instead. That means that if Israel bombs Iranian nuclear facilities, the president will likely withhold critical replenishments of destroyed Israeli aircraft and other weapons systems.
We are moving inexorably toward, and perhaps have now reached, an Israeli crisis with Mr. Obama. Americans must realize that allowing Iran to obtain nuclear weapons is empowering an existential threat to the Israeli state, to Arab governments in the region that are friendly to the U.S., and to long-term global peace and security.
Mr. Netanyahu must realize he has not been banking good behavior credits with Mr. Obama but simply postponing an inevitable confrontation. The prime minister should recalibrate his approach, and soon.
Terrifying. And heart-breaking.
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