A unique opportunity for a regional alliance

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The agreement formulated between the West and Iran after Hassan Rouhani was elected president was defined by Netanyahu as a huge fraud, a bait swallowed by the foolish West in its weakness.

Netanyahu then reiterated his favorite political principle: There is no one to talk to. Power is wisdom; negotiations are foolishness.

The West was unimpressed by Netanyahu's political wisdom. It reached an agreement with Iran, an agreement which at least suspends the Iranian nuclear program (something which all of our threats and sword waving failed to do). Judging from the dramatically lower tones of Israeli spokespersons, it appears that state officials also believe that although the problem has yet to be solved (and Israel has a justified reason to fear a nuclear Iran), the level of urgency has dropped considerably.

But there is something more important that the location of the red line on the bomb drawing Netanyahu presented to the world at the UN, and that is the complex nature of the Iranian moves. As long as Iran was ruled by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, there was a consensus between Iran and Israel: The only policy is "to hell what the world thinks." Diplomacy is words, and when there is an army there is no need for words.

Iran paid a heavy prices for this arrogant approach. it paid with serious isolation and an economic crisis.

If we expected an allegedly irrational state, caught in complex religious dreams of territorial and moral grandeur, to respond in an "Israeli" way – stand firm in its existing beliefs – we were proven false. What actually happened is that the Iranian public voted for a relatively moderate candidate, who changed the flagship of the Iranian policy until then within a short period of time.

Regardless of our opinion about the agreement with the West in the long run, it's hard to ignore the fact that it is a surrender to the Western pressure, even if insincerely.

But the story doesn't end here. The rise of ISIS and the disintegration of the Iraqi state led Iran to make additional sober moves: Iran supplied its Kurdish enemies with weapons and expressed its willingness to cooperate with the Great Satan, the US, in a move aimed at stopping the new group which has emerged in the region.

All this tells us that the "irrational" Iran has a policy based on a realistic reading of the regional and global map of power and not on wishful thinking. The Iranians would rather disregard the world. The problem is that there is a price for contempt. They would rather not cooperate with the US. The problem is that the US is not Iran's biggest problem at the moment. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Iran understands that.

Israel doesn’t really understand that. Why should we start thinking differently if we can go on as usual (national pride as an alternative to a policy; the Judea and Samaria's interests at the expense of the State of Israel's interests) and the hell with reality?

The rise of new forces in the Middle East means that for countries like Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, Israel is no longer the main problem. They are interested in an alliance which will stop radical Islam. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Israel is a key member in this club. But in order to join this club, we must pay the entrance fee: An agreement with the Palestinians involving the evacuation of settlements. Otherwise, the "moderate" regimes will find it difficult to sell the new regional alliance to the public in their countries.

There are risks in this agreement, but the opportunities it opens for us are ten times greater. If the Netanyahu government is incapable of detecting the unique opportunity it has to advance the State of Israel's vital interests, it must go.