Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama at the White House
Photo: Reuters
The ideal situation would obviously be a crossbreed: If I could take the love for Israel in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s heart and combine it with the sense of responsibility guiding US President Barack Obama, I would sleep peacefully at night, knowing everything is under control.
On the one hand, there would be someone there willing to do anything to ensure my personal safety and the country’s security, yet on the other hand there would be someone else there watching over the former and limiting his steps so he doesn’t exaggerate and throw out the baby with the bathwater.
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This merger seems so successful that, who knows, maybe its very existence would have curbed Ahmadinejad’s nuclear program. Had Iran’s president realized that he is facing an enemy holding up the banner of emotion plus brains, he would have realized he could not get too far with his schemes.
Yet as there is no chance that the two leaders would turn into one entity, I’m counting on Obama. He is the responsible adult I am willing to trust with the car keys.
It’s not that Obama’s presence at the wheel constitutes a full guarantee for a safe ride – after all, even on a real highway caution does not protect you against the recklessness of other drivers. However, the president’s speech resonated in my ears as much more than a calming message.
No worries
When Obama declared that the only way to avert the threat of nuclear weapons is to convince Iran to give it up on its own initiative, and when he demanded that the political, diplomatic and economic effort be exhausted, it sounded to me as if he was saying “no worries.”The above phrase, “no worries,” is a despicable Israeli invention. It’s the tactic of the lazy and cowardly people who truly wish to do well, yet are helpless to do so, and therefore rely on God and hope that at the last moment we’ll see a miracle that saves us. “No worries” is the customary approach used by PM Netanyahu, who may lead us to disaster just so he can divert our attention from economic issues or in order to ensure that he wins the next elections.
However, president Obama’s “no worries” sounds different, because it does not stem from a caprice, but rather, from the understanding that starting a war without knowing how it would end is not such a great move. Hence, I trust him, parallel to my faith in God.
Should Obama manage to restrain Netanyahu, handling the Iran issue would be a piece of cake.