Netanyahu. Comfortably waiting for the next landlord at the White House
Photo: GPO
Netanyahu is playing with fire
Op-ed: If the prime minister means what he says about the Iran deal, he should plead with US President-elect Trump to cancel it. The possible outcome, according to concerned experts, is a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, starring Iran.
US Secretary of State John Kerry had the privilege of delivering the closing speech at this year’s Saban Forum. The same Kerry delivered the Forum’s closing speech last year, as well, in the same auditorium.
It was the same speech, the same helpless preaching filled with good intentions. The difference is that last year he still had people listening to him or, alternatively, fearing that Kerry’s preaching was backed by the huge power of the United States.
John Kerry (R) at the Saban Forum, Sunday. Beyond the good intentions, the man appears to be living in a dream world (Photo: Saban Forum)
On Sunday, he spoke as a lame duck, who will be spending the next two months waiting for the man who will make him, and the efforts he made in the entire the world in the past four years, disappear.
Last year, it was heart-rending. This year, it was pathetic. In general, the Obama administration graduates are now in the second or third stage of dealing with their loss, finding it difficult to bid farewell to the power and policy they believe in but knowing that they will soon have to start packing.
Answering questions from journalist Jeffery Goldberg, Kerry was able to elaborate on all of the Israeli government’s actions in the settlement area: The number of legal communities and how many illegal outposts have been added, which outposts the government plans to make legal (85 of 100) and which will remain illegal in the near future.
Emotionally, he reiterated everything we knew: that there will be no agreement between Israel and the moderate states in the Arab world as long as Israel and the Palestinians fail to reach an agreement; that building settlements beyond the separation fence destroys the chances of reaching an agreement; and that the majority of ministers and members of the current coalition are against the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Kerry described his foreign policy in the Middle East as a long list of achievements. The Obama administration is leaving the next administration a movement towards an advantage everywhere—In Libya, in Iraq, and even in Syria. Beyond his good intentions, though, the man appears to be living in a dream world.
One of the basic errors of the Obama administration’s foreign policy is that it always tried to explain to others what was good for them—not what was good for America. In the non-democratic world, this was perceived as a chronic weakness. In the democratic world, it was perceived as a lack of policy. A world super power cannot talk to the rest of the world like a Polish mother. It doesn’t even work in Poland.
Kerry’s speech was preceded by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech from his office in Jerusalem, via satellite link. If Kerry sounded gloomy, as if he was deserting both himself and us, Netanyahu sounded haughty, comfortably waiting for the next landlord at the White House. Israel has never been stronger, more popular, smarter, more successful, even more moderate than it is today. It has two enemies left: Iran and the Israeli media. “What will be your legacy?” he was asked by his interviewer, Haim Saban. Netanyahu wrung his fingers in search of an answer: Why talk about a legacy, when he has many more decades ahead of him as prime minister?
What he said about Iran is worth noting ahead of Donald Trump’s arrival at the White House. He said he was not concerned that Iran would violate the agreement. On the contrary, he is concerned that Iran will uphold the agreement and then arm itself with a nuclear weapon when the agreement expires.
If Netanyahu means what he says, he should plead with President Trump, when they meet in Washington in February, to cancel the agreement. The possible outcome, which experts here are talking about with a great amount of concern, is a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, starring Iran. Netanyahu is playing with fire.
