PrintMay 8, 2009
Israel in peril
The Obama administration seems to want a linkage between progress on the Israeli Palestinian front and any stepped up American pressure on Iran. The way this works, is that if Israel decides it is uncomfortable with US pressure to make concessions to the Palestinians, and refuses to make them, it should not count on American support for dealing with Iran's nuclear program.
In short, Rahm Emanuel told Israel and its American supporters at AIPAC: you better behave and play ball. Lovely. I recall the emails I got after Obama named his Cabinet and senior staff, which pointed out all the Jewish names, including Rahm's, and added, "This isn't a government, it's a minyan". How cute.
If there is one thing Jews who actually care about Israel should know, it is that being Jewish has little to do with one's support level for Israel. It may be highly correlated however with support for abortion rights, and voting for Democrats. Some Jews not only don't support Israel, they are working for the enemy. Here is evidence of their handiwork investing in some billboard displays in New Mexico.
James Taranto says our Arab allies are very concerned with Iran, and are nervous about US overtures to that country, which at the moment is busy destabilizing their regimes. These Arab countries are more interested in pressure on Iran, than on Israel. Please tell Rahm.
IBD had a terrific editorial on another new pressure tactic the US is using on Israel-publicly acknowledging its nuclear program, and suggesting Iran will be more amenable to negotiating away its nuclear program, if Israel were to disarm. The reality is, that the US seems increasingly unconcerned with Iran completing its nuclear program, and if Israel ever gave up its nukes, it would greatly increase the odds Iran would use its nukes against Israel. Why wouldn't it use them, if there were no Israeli deterrent of nuclear retaliation?
