Iran is our problem
World is failing in effort to stop Iran; should Israel learn to live with the consequences?
Washington: From a distance of 10,000 kilometers it seems that Israel is a happy country, free of worry, except for one thing: What model Bar Rafaeli thinks of us. It looks like a wonderful country: The Switzerland of the Middle East. Apparently it only exists during the Jewish holidays.
Israel after the holidays is another story altogether. Its list of concerns is long and complex. Among the many concerns that are supposed to worry Israelis at this point in time, one is also preoccupying the American political establishment, as well as public opinion here and there. I am referring to a topic void of any sex appeal, boring and aggravating: It is Iran's nuclear armament.
Ariel Sharon was prime minister when the topic made it to Israel's and the world's agendas. The policies he consolidated, at least the ones he made public, said in short: The problem is not Israel's alone. It poses a threat to the entire world. The world, headed by the US, will deal with it; the world will solve the problem.
And indeed the US harnessed itself to the mission. It exerted heavy pressure on members of the Security Council to exacerbate sanctions on Iran. This effort is still ongoing, despite it being clear to all that it is destined to fail.
At the same time President Bush declared that Iran would not be permitted to possess nuclear weapons. Similar declarations were voiced by presidential candidates in the two parties. The last one to promise to halt the bomb was Democratic Party presidential hopeful Hilary Clinton.
I made a promise, said our late Prime Minister Levi Eshkol. I didn't promise to fulfill the promise. The belligerent statements made by prime ministers and presidential candidates indicate a desire more than actual intent. A former senior member of the State Department said in a closed session this week that he believes that President Bush will operate militarily at odds of 2-5. He made clear what he meant: If the Iranians act foolishly, maliciously attack and kill American troops in Iraq, for example, then and only then is the president likely to order a military operation.
He was generous. Others gave even a smaller chance for a military operation ordered by Bush, and a negligible chance that his successor would do so, unless the successor is Rudolph W Giuliani.
Serious discussion needed
The above is due to what is termed here the "Iraq syndrome," the twin brother of the "Vietnam syndrome," which paralyzed America's military operations for years. He who attacked Iraq under the false pretext of possession of non-conventional weapons will not win public support to attack another country with the same argument. Perhaps Bush would like to do so, but it is doubtful whether he can.
This obliges us to start getting used to the idea that Iran is our problem after all.
In my dreams I see Mossad agents secretly making the reactor’s exterior turn into rust. The Iranians lose their bomb, and continue to seek it for generations to come.
On a more realistic note, the dilemma will be between a military operation, if such an operation is at all feasible, and living with the bomb. This is what many in the American Administration are now proposing Israel does: Learn to live with the bomb.
These questions necessitate a serious discussion amongst Israelis and our American friends. These are existential issues. For example: Is it a good thing for Israel to obtain an explicit American commitment to attack Iran if and when it threatens to use nuclear weapons against Israel? For example: Is it advisable for the US to tie its commitment regarding Iran's nuclear ambitions to progress in diplomatic talks? For example: Should Israel coordinate its moves against Iran with the American administration or should the two parities allow themselves more leeway? And there's more.
Unfortunately, there is currently no ear for such discussion, which brings me back to the beginning of this article: If I am not mistaken, the only bomb the Israelis are not willing to live with is the Israeli (sex) bomb called Bar Rafaeli.
