Barring a significant defection of Senate Democrats, the Iran deal will not be overturned, even if it takes a Presidential veto to preserve it. Still, before the ink had dried, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu labeled it an historic mistake that makes the entire world less safe. There is no doubt that he would have opposed the deal, no matter what it contains.
Let’s be clear about this. Bibi prefers no deal to any deal. In essence, he would prefer that Iran should continue to build nuclear weapons, without international supervision or interference. That is the only alternative, in which case, within a very short time, Israel and the rest of the world would be contending with a nuclear Iran.
Does this make any sense at all? I don’t think so.
It seems that Netanyahu wishes to cast the Iran nuclear deal as the outcome of President Obama’s animosity toward him personally and to the State of Israel. This is not accurate. Notwithstanding the unpleasant relationship between the two leaders, American-Israeli ties have never been stronger, with much strategic cooperation and massive military aid.
Netanyahu is unwilling to recognize that this deal has been several years in the making, that it represents the combined determination of multiple countries, and that it was negotiated in an atmosphere of mutual distrust. Even if the United States should opt out, in all likelihood the deal with remain in place with the remaining countries, putting Israel in a much worse position than if the U.S. stays in.
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as it is formally called, states point blank that “Iran reaffirms that under no circumstances will (it) ever seek, develop or acquire nuclear weapons.” The distinction is between nuclear weaponry and nuclear power. That is a close to an absolute commitment as even the most hard-line opponent of Iran could ever expect.
So now, Netanyahu has begun his campaign to negate the deal. He will lobby every member of the Senate. Of course, this is a violation of the long-standing principle of other countries not interfering with the work of Congress. But this has never stopped him before. By the time this matter concludes, if he succeeds, he will have used up every ounce of capital and Israel will be less safe than it is today. More likely, he will not succeed.
Israel has very few friends among the nations of the world. It has one hard-and-fast friend, and that is the United States. Is Benyamin Netanyahu really ready to risk losing so much for the sake of attempting to win a pyric victory that, in the end, will have made Israel no more safe. Should he succeed, he will project the sense that with the U.S., the tail truly does wag the dog — that this great nation’s foreign policies are subject to the whims of the Jewish state. That would truly be a disaster for both Israel and for America’s Jews.
Mr. Netanyahu has made his case. He has made it abundantly clear what he thinks of the deal with Iran. At the very least, he should now stand aside and allow the American political system do its job.
Tags: israel, netanyahu