RUTHFULLY YOURS

Flanked by Defense Minister Moshe (Bogie) Ya’alon and Navy Vice Admiral Ram Rothberg, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a press conference on Monday in the southern Israeli port city of Eilat. This was where the Israel Defense Forces unloaded the cargo of the Panamanian-flagged Klos C ship, intercepted by commandos last Wednesday, which originated in Iran and was bound for Gaza.

The “show and tell” presentation, which took place alongside rows of long-range missiles, mortar shells and hundreds of thousands of AK-47 bullets, was to illustrate to the international community that the Islamic Republic is on the war path.

It is not exactly a hot news flash that Iran is going full speed ahead with its nuclear program. Nor have statements emanating out of Tehran done anything to assuage Western fears. On the contrary, Iran’s defense minister has been boldly flexing his muscles and boasting about newer and deadlier weapons in his army’s arsenal.

Nevertheless, the United States and Europe continue to harbor hope that negotiations with the mullah-led regime of Hassan Rouhani will bear fruit. What this means in U.N. lingo is that the P5+1 countries (the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany) have no intention of launching a military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, and that they want to be persuaded to stop imposing economic sanctions, as well.

U.S. President Barack Obama has been clear that his goal is to “give diplomacy a chance.” This is why he has been adamant about easing sanctions. He wants his goodwill gestures to cause Iran to relax and let international inspectors see for themselves that its nuclear activity is for civilian purposes alone.

Netanyahu has been working tirelessly to prevent his counterparts in the West from buying into this nonsense. Every meeting he holds, like each speech he delivers, begins and ends with his warnings about Iranian intentions and increasing capabilities.

By now, it is assumed by anyone in the world not afflicted with ostrich syndrome that it is up to Netanyahu to undertake a military operation against Iran’s nukes. There is much debate in Israel about whether the IDF has the technical ability to pull such a thing off. But everyone agrees that an Israeli attack would incur devastating consequences. What the missile cache caught off the coast of Sudan signals, however, is that a nuclearized Iran would be worse. This is because even the conventional missiles found last week, if launched from Gaza, could hit Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa. Equipped with nuclear warheads, they could blitz the tiny Jewish state into oblivion.

On Monday, with cameras on the massive Iranian shipment, Netanyahu was trying to impress upon the international community that while it is engaging in negotiations with Iran, the “brutal regime has not abandoned its deep involvement in terrorism, its systematic efforts to undermine peace and security throughout the Middle East and its ambition to destroy the state of Israel. … Those engaged in self-deception must awaken from their slumber; we cannot allow Iran to continue building nuclear weapons.”

As he spoke, the search was still on for Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370, bound for China, which seemed to have disappeared literally into thin air on Sunday. Lo and behold, an Iranian connection has popped up in relation to what is assumed to be a terrorist attack or hijacking. Investigators discovered that two “mystery men” with stolen passports had boarded that plane. And it turns out that they had purchased their tickets through an Iranian known as “Mr. Ali” to the travel agent who sold them.

That Iran’s tentacles are spreading radical Islam across the globe “by the sword” comes as no surprise, certainly not to Netanyahu. And he should be commended for his relentless pursuit and spread of this truth to his counterparts in America and Europe.

Still, Netanyahu himself is engaged in diplomatic negotiations that are no less false, with a partner whose intentions are just as ill.

Though the Palestinian Authority is a weaker entity than Iran, it shares the Islamic Republic’s aim to annihilate Israel. Like Rouhani, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is credited with being a more moderate alternative to his predecessor. And like Tehran, Ramallah keeps protesting its innocence, as a way of keeping the funds flowing.

Netanyahu is fully aware of this, which is why he has been insisting that the P.A. curb terrorism, desist from incitement and recognize Israel as a Jewish state as preconditions for a “peace” deal.

But peace isn’t on the table, as P.A. behavior — which includes Abbas’ glorifying of suicide bombers — indicates. What is up for discussion is an Israeli withdrawal from territory inhabited by Jews. And what has already taken place is the release of many Arab terrorists from Israeli jails, in exchange for absolutely nothing.

Does Netanyahu’s willingness to participate in such a dangerous farce not constitute the same kind of hypocrisy that he accuses the international community of exhibiting in relation to Iran?

If his strategy is to bide his time on the Palestinian front while enlisting the Obama administration’s support for military action or stricter sanctions against Iran, it clearly isn’t working. Let the display in Eilat serve as a reminder not only of where the rockets originated, but where they were headed — to territory from which Israel withdrew every last Jew.

Ruthie Blum is the author of “To Hell in a Handbasket: Carter, Obama, and the ‘Arab Spring.'”