Barak: Israel won’t outsource its security to anyone
Barak: Israel won’t outsource its security to … JPost – Defense.
(A pessimist in the Middle East is merely an optimist with experience.” Ehud is giving Bibi a run for his money in the arena of good quotes ! – JW )
Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post
Israel will not outsource its vital security interests to anyone, “not even to our closes and most trusted allies,” Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in London on Wednesday.
Speaking to the British Israel Communications and Research Center, Barak, addressing Iran’s uranium enrichment program, said, “All options are on the table to prevent Iran from crossing the point of no return. We expect all those who say it to mean it; we mean it.” The defense minister signaled that Jerusalem would not rely on US assurances to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear weapons state.
“The State of Israel was founded precisely so that our fate would remain in our own hands. When it comes to the very future of Israel, and its vital security interests, we cannot… and will not outsource the responsibility for making the decision. Not even to our closest and most trusted allies,” he said.
“We live in a tough neighborhood, one in which there is no mercy for the weak and no second chance for those who cannot defend themselves; “a villa in the jungle”, as I once put it. In such a place, it is imperative to remain strong, open-eyed, with both feet on the ground,” Barak said. “We always say that a pessimist in the Middle East is merely an optimist with experience,” he added.
Turning his sights to Syria, Barak noted that over 30,000 Syrians have been killed in that country’s civil war, adding that “Iran and Hezbollah are the only allies Assad has left. They will suffer a major blow with his inevitable downfall. We can only hope that it won’t end up in total chaos, and another hotbed of terror on our borders.” Israel would take military action should it identify an attempt to transfer Syrian chemical weapons to terrorists, the defense minister warned.
“Taking into account the warm ties between Hezbollah and Syria, I have instructed the IDF to closely monitor the possible transfer of advanced weapons systems and Assad’s chemical arsenal into Lebanon. We will take any necessary action to prevent this,” he said during the speech.
Barak also touch on changes in Egypt, noting that the country has “entered a new era. The Muslim Brotherhood regime provides a tailwind for Hamas in Gaza and extremists in Jordan.”
At the same time, he said, “The peace treaty with Egypt remains a strategic asset for both countries and we expect the new government to respect it, as well as all their other international obligations for the sake of peace and stability for the entire region.”
WarSclerotic 
November 1, 2012 at 5:50 PM
Obama on Iran:
“At this stage, it is my belief that we have a window of opportunity where this can still be resolved diplomatically.”
“What’s said on the campaign trail, you know, those folks don’t have a lot of responsibilities. They’re not commander-in-chief. And when I see the casualness with which some of these folks talk about war, I am reminded of the costs involved in war. I am reminded (of) the decision that I have to make in terms of sending our young men and women into battle and the impact that has on their lives, the impact it has on our national security, the impact it has on our economy.
“This is not a game. There is nothing casual about it. And, you know, when I see some of these folks who have a lot of bluster and a lot of big talk but when you actually ask them specifically what they would do, it turns out (that) they repeat the things that we’ve been doing over the last three years. It indicates to me that that’s more about politics than actually trying to solve a difficult problem.
“Now, the one thing that we have not done is we haven’t launched a war. If some of these folks think that it’s time to launch a war, they should say so, and they should explain to the American people exactly why they would do that and what the consequences would be. Everything else is just talk.”
“I think there’s no doubt that those who are suggesting or proposing or beating the drums of war should explain clearly to the American people what they think the costs and benefits would be. I am not one of those people because what I’ve said is that we have a window through which we can resolve this issue peacefully, we have put forward an international framework that is applying unprecedented pressure, the Iranians just stated that they are willing to return to the negotiating table, and we have got the opportunity, even as we maintain that pressure, to see how it plays out.”
They may share the same name, but they are definitely not the same men.