WarSclerotic

Will Israel Stand Alone?.

Although the Obama administration nominally touts support of the Israeli State, their words and actions have been anything but supportive. America’s Israeli brothers –the best friends it has in the Middle East –have their backs against the wall. Surrounded by hostile neighbors, spearheaded by a venomous Iran bent on its destruction, Israel has looked to the United States for help as it can do in times of trouble.

But the times are more than troubling now, with Iran doggedly pursuing nuclear capabilities while simultaneously calling for Israel’s extinction. And President Obama has been of no help. He has instead called on Israel to halt its construction of neighborhoods in its capital city, citing their offensive nature to the Palestinians. He has declared that Israel must show constraint, while telling Palestinians that they must work for peace. He has overseen the halt of military helicopter sales to Israel, and Admiral Mike Mullen would not promise that the United States would not shoot down Israeli aircraft if they needed use of American airspace to attack Iran. Israel has also  rejected Obama’s calls to halt building in West Jerusalem.

Such news is beyond disheartening. Israel supports renewed American efforts for economic sanctions against Iran; yet, Iran has been the target of international economic sanctions and diplomatic pressure of one kind or another for years, and those sanctions and pressure have produced no positive result. Indeed, Obama’s open-hand policy of friendship and diplomatic dialogue produced only incensed rhetoric and missile tests from Iran. Intelligence now indicates that Iran could have a missile capable of hitting the United States by 2015 –and would be five more years advanced in the nuclear process.

Yet, it is Israel that has more to fear –in both the short and long term. While the United States may, for the moment, lie outside the range of conventional Iranian arms, Israel does not. In range of Iran’s missiles, Israel is also within range of Iran’s nuclear weapons –which would become a reality sooner rather than later. And now Israel must contemplate the delicate choice of incurring the Obama administration’s wrath if it decides to attack Iran, even without American approval. It attacked the Osirak reactor in Iraq in 1981 without notifying Washington. With Washington’s knowledge, Israel also attacked a suspected nuclear reactor in Syria. And now Israel’s government is divided over how to proceed against Iran.

Members of the Obama administration, including Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Mullen, reserve military action as a last option against Iran. Yet, Iran does not have the luxury of time to play diplomatic games. While the Obama administration is conveniently taking the option of “last resort” when it comes to military action against Iran, Israel must answer a question of “necessity” and “when”: When does it become necessary to strike Iran? Theoretically, diplomatic options can never be exhausted. There is always another “choice”, rendering “last resort” impossible, especially for a nation tucked safely away across an ocean from conventional threats. Israel has limited choices.

The Obama administration, rather than helping Israel, is backing it into a corner. At least under Obama, Israel will more than likely be forced to act alone in ending the nuclear threat posed by Iran. Obama, who has rendered American foreign policy impotent, will probably be of no help. Israel will be near-universally condemned for striking Iran, but the world will secretly breathe a collective sigh of relief that it no longer has to contend with a nuclear-armed, theocratic rogue state.

This entry was posted on April 26, 2010 at 11:20 AM and is filed under Iran / Israel War. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.