Better to be smart than right
Op-ed: Netanyahu is right, but his very just fight against Iran nuclear deal only serves to divide American Jewry and exacerbate crisis between Israel and the US. So why is he dragging us into this mess?
It appears that the difference between being right and being smart has never been clearer. In the argument between Israel and the Obama administration over the Iran nuclear deal, Israel is right. The problem is not in the details of nuclear supervision.
Many experts claim that this was the best arrangement that could have been reached, and that eventually, and despite it all, Iran's nuclear capabilities would be set back many years. And even so, this is still a capitulation. A country under the yoke of sanctions, whose economy is faltering and in which a small, backward minority rules over a giant nation, is fooling the entire world, and more importantly, is fooling the world's biggest power.
Make no mistake: It's not that the United States failed Israel. The US failed itself. The greatest power in the world was unsuccessful, and perhaps didn't even try, to obtain the release of three Americans - Pastor Saeed Abedini; Amir Hekmati, a former Marine who went to visit his grandmother in Iran; and Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian - who have been jailed by the Iranian regime. So far, all efforts to secure their release have hit a wall. Was it really not possible to include their release in the Vienna agreement? Is the Obama administration really that weak and helpless?
And there is no point in demanding that Iran stop its threats against Israel and the US. Khamenei will keep presiding over mass rallies in which regime supporters will keep calling out "Death to America, death to Israel." And these won't be just empty threats. Nasrallah is rubbing his hands with glee, and he has good reasons to do so.
And yet, Netanyahu has been making every possible mistake. Despite the fact two senior Democratic senators, Chuck Schumer and Bob Menendez, both announced they would vote against the agreement, each possible result is worse than the other.
If Israel wins in Congress and manages to secure a supermajority to bypass the presidential veto, it will still be a Pyrrhic victory. The sanctions have already been removed. Western countries - and they're not the only ones - are not waiting for Congress. They are falling over each other for the right to equip the ayatollah regime with all the goods. Senior ministers from Western countries are lobbying to get meetings with the regime in Tehran. It's a done deal. All is lost. The sanctions have already been removed, in case our prime minister hasn't noticed. Has he really not noticed?
Another option is that the desired majority is not secured and Congress approves the agreement. Then, the United States can join the party too. It won't matter much.
The problem is that there are already immediate results to Netanyahu's conduct. American Jewry is torn between supporting and opposing the deal. They didn't want to be pushed into a dark corner, faced with the issue of dual loyalties once again. They don't want another Jonathan Pollard kind of dilemma. Different polls point to constant oscillation between support and opposition, which is indicative of serious reservations.
The crisis between Israel and the American administration has reached new heights. It's no longer merely a crisis. It's an unfathomable hostility that won't go away anytime soon. What is this good for? Who benefits from it? Netanyahu's very just fight is only leading to negative results. So where is his common sense? Why is he dragging all of us into this mess?
There are those who claim that the time of Jewish submission is long gone. Israel is here to show the world that Jews will no longer go like sheep to slaughter. That's a poor claim. We're not in the business of ego games and humiliating the other side. We're in the business of protecting our national interests.
In the current circumstances, we need to cooperate with the American administration to minimize the damage. We have no use for ego games that lead to intransigence. And this is exactly what Netanyahu has been doing recently. He managed to recruit two or even five Democratic senators to join his fight. That's not a big achievement, considering the fact he is seriously endangering national interests.
I must confess: Time and again over the past few years, I have supported Netanyahu's methods. His claims about the danger Iran poses were found to be true every time. He managed to shake the entire free world out of its apathy. He managed to push the free world into imposing sanctions against Iran.
But over the past few months, something has gone wrong. It's sad. Netanyahu who was right, has turned into a Netanyahu who is not acting smart. And Netanyahu isn't the one who is losing. Israel is.
