Relations between Israel and the United States

Published in La Nación
(Argentina) on 11 March 2015
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Natalie Harrison. Edited by Eva Langman.
Relations between the U.S. and Israel are momentarily particularly complex. The hour approaches in which Iran and the international community could sign an agreement regarding the dangerous Iranian nuclear program before the end of March, which would freeze the program for at least 10 years.

For the state of Israel, Iran is obviously a very serious security problem — presumably, the most serious one the country faces. Moreover, it is a clear existential threat, since the leaders of the ambitious Iranian theocracy do not even recognize the right of the state of Israel to exist. Furthermore, Iran is certainly behind two terrorist organizations, Hezbollah and Hamas, financing and arming them. Both groups are violent; from the borders they share with Israel today, they point thousands of missiles Iran supplied them with at whatever target they see in the territory of Israel, not excluding innocent civilians. It is thus relatively simple to conclude that, for the Israeli authorities, this is a question of priority. The mere thought of the possibility of an Iran endowed with atomic weapons plunges them into an immediate and overwhelming nightmare.

For this, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tenaciously opposes negotiations of the international community with Iran regarding the suspected Iranian nuclear program. Israel will only feel safe if it is discontinued and completely left aside, but this deal would be very difficult for the religious leadership of Iran of today to accept.

This explains Netanyahu’s recent address in front of both chambers of the U.S. Congress, which was filled with tension toward the alluded negotiation should it enter into its final phase. For him, the arrangement that is in sight would always be extremely damaging to Israel; Netanyahu could never subscribe to what Iran seeks. However, the relationship between Israel and the U.S., beyond tactical ways, will surely not be affected if Netanyahu is ignored. It is built on shared values. The U.S. will always defend, we believe, the right of Israel to be the proud state that it is today, whatever the circumstances they may have to confront.

Nonetheless, it is also certain that the Middle Eastern board has enormously complicated itself. Iran, which has grown blatantly in its aspirations to become a regional power, is deeply involved in what is happening in Syria and Iraq, with troops in the various battles being fought today on both soils and with an unusual factional cruelty. Iran itself has a substantial influence in the current Yemeni chaos that has exploded on the border between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, the leaders of which openly accuse Iran of having regional hegemonic pretensions.

Iran is, paradoxically, a de facto ally of the U.S. in the fight against the Islamic State group and its inhumane barbarism. Their troops are on the ground, whose fighting is backed up by the decisive aerial support of the Western coalition — which is essentially in charge of the U.S. Air Force and coordinated indirectly through Iraq.

Today, just as they had done to other Iraqi cities — Amerli, Erbil and Baiji — the experimental Iranian militias, led by General Qasem Soleimani, accompany Iraqi governmental forces in their attempt to recover Tikrit; tomorrow, predictably, they will do this also in the decisive battle to retake Mosul, the second Iraqi city still in the hands of the Islamic State group which will be free by the middle of this year. These militias, it should be remembered, are the same that were responsible for the factional atrocities that were committed in the Iraqi civil war which erupted in 2011, when the U.S. troop withdrawal occurred.

The Middle Eastern crisis, as can be seen, has greatly expanded and the deep religious intra-Muslim conflict that pits Sunnis against Shiites has been enormously complicated. From there, the delicate question concerning Israel’s relevance and importance, which unfortunately is not yet resolved, is no longer the only urgent matter to consider in a region that has been filled with barbarism and inhumane horrors.


Para los israelíes, que Irán sea un aliado estratégico de la potencia norteamericana contra Estado Islámico implica un peligro para su propia seguridad

Las relaciones entre los Estados Unidos e Israel pasan por un momento particularmente complejo. Se aproxima la hora en que Irán y la comunidad internacional podrían suscribir, antes de que concluya marzo, un convenio referido al peligroso programa nuclear iraní, que sería congelarlo al menos por diez años.

Para el Estado de Israel, Irán es obviamente un muy serio problema de seguridad. Presumiblemente, el más grave que ese país enfrenta. Más aún, es una clara amenaza existencial, desde que los líderes de la ambiciosa teocracia iraní no reconocen siquiera el derecho del Estado de Israel a ser tal. Y, además, están ciertamente detrás de dos organizaciones terroristas como Hezbollah y Hamas, financiándolas y armándolas. Ambas agrupaciones son violentas y hoy, desde las fronteras mismas con Israel, apuntan los miles de misiles que Irán les ha suministrado contra cualquier blanco emplazado en el territorio de Israel, sin omitir a los civiles inocentes. Es entonces relativamente simple concluir que, para las autoridades de Israel, ésta sea una cuestión prioritaria. Solamente pensar en la posibilidad de un Irán dotado de armas atómicas implica sumergirse en una inmediata y sobrecogedora pesadilla.

Por esto el primer ministro israelí, Benjamin Netanyahu, se opone tenazmente a la negociación de la comunidad internacional con Irán respecto del sospechoso programa nuclear iraní, respecto del cual sólo se siente seguro si se lo discontinúa y deja enteramente de lado, lo que difícilmente sería admitido hoy por el particular liderazgo religioso de Irán.

Esto explica la reciente alocución de Netanyahu ante ambas cámaras del Congreso norteamericano, llenando de tensión a la aludida negociación cuando ella ha entrado en su fase final. Para él, el arreglo que se avizora sería siempre sumamente perjudicial para Israel, por lo que procura que no sea suscripto. No obstante, la relación entre Israel y los EE.UU, más allá de lo táctico, seguramente no quedará afectada si Netanyahu es desoído. Está edificada sobre valores compartidos. Los EE.UU. defenderán siempre, creemos, el derecho de Israel a ser el orgulloso Estado que hoy es, cualesquiera que fueren las circunstancias que pudieran tener que enfrentarse.

Pese a ello, también es cierto que el tablero de Medio Oriente se ha complicado enormemente. Irán, que ha crecido notoriamente en sus aspiraciones de poder transformarse en una potencia regional, está implicado profundamente en lo que sucede en Siria e Irak, con tropas operando en las distintas batallas que hoy se libran en ambos terrenos, con una crueldad facciosa inusual. Y tiene, asimismo, una influencia sustancial en el actual caos yemenita, que ha explotado en la frontera misma de Arabia Saudita, cuyos líderes acusan abiertamente a Irán de tener pretensiones regionales "hegemónicas".

Irán es, paradójicamente, un aliado de los EE.UU. de hecho en la lucha contra Estado Islámico y su barbarie inhumana. Sus tropas están en el terreno, luchando apoyadas por el decisivo apoyo aéreo de la coalición occidental, que está esencialmente a cargo de la fuerza aérea norteamericana y es coordinado indirectamente a través de Irak.

Hoy, como ya lo hicieron respecto de otras ciudades -Amerli, Erbil y Baiji-, las experimentadas milicias iraníes, lideradas por el general Qassim Suleimani, acompañan a las fuerzas del gobierno de Irak en el intento de recuperación de Tikrit y mañana, previsiblemente, lo harán también en la decisiva batalla por reconquistar Mosul la segunda ciudad iraquí, aún en manos de Estado Islámico-, que se libraría a mediados de este año. Esas milicias, cabe recordar, son las mismas que fueron responsables de las atrocidades facciosas que se cometieron en la guerra civil iraquí que estalló en 2011, cuando se produjo el retiro de las tropas norteamericanas.

La crisis de Medio Oriente, queda visto, se ha ampliado mucho y el profundo enfrentamiento religioso intramusulmán, que enfrenta a sunitas contra chiitas, la ha complicado enormemente. De allí que la delicada cuestión que concierne a Israel, que mantiene toda su vigencia e importancia y que desgraciadamente aún no ha sido resuelta, no sea ya la única urgencia por tener en cuenta, en una región que se ha llenado de barbarie y horror inhumanos.
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