Bibi and the Bomb

Observers agree that Benjamin Netanyahu gave a brilliant speech on Tuesday, calling out Obama for his intention to make a nuclear agreement with Iran. For some strange reason, all of the newspaper, radio and television reports made the same mistake: labeling Netanyahu as “prime minister of Israel.” It is strange that it happened, when it is obvious that the last thing Bibi did was act like the prime minister of an ally country. Surely, the misunderstanding is due to the difficulty of choosing between two alternatives, both more realistic. It is not difficult to imagine news directors at the main television channels debating between whether they should label Netanyahu a Republican congressman in Jerusalem or as Likud’s candidate in the general elections to be held in Israel on March 17. That is what Netanyahu did: He used fear toward Iran in order to promote himself as candidate for prime minister and, in passing, weaken Obama in front of the Republicans.

It is a miracle that Netanyahu can scream out against the nuclear agreement with Iran and, at the same time, keep out of public debate and international treaties his own nuclear arsenal, estimated to have 60-80 nuclear warheads and enough fissionable material to build up to 200. It is important to remember that the United States is not Israel’s friend, but rather, its main protector. Without Washington’s diplomatic protection in the United Nations Security Council, Israel would have had to choose between signing a fair peace agreement with the Palestinians and withdrawing from the West Bank, or resign itself to a series of international sanctions, similar to those experienced by the South Africa of apartheid. Additionally, without the more than $3 billion that American taxpayers (including those who voted for Obama) give to Israel yearly as military support, the Israelis could not maintain their military advantage when facing their neighbors. Without U.S. support, Israel would not be an island of development and democracy in the Middle East, but rather, an isolated encampment in a very unfriendly neighborhood.

Republicans have to be a bit more careful and show a little more common sense. Making Netanyahu think that he owns U.S. international politics is not doing any favor to Israel, nor to the Republican Party: whether because Tehran, feeling threatened, decides to break its nuclear agreement and go for bombs, or because Israel decides to unilaterally bomb the Iranian nuclear facilities, and the new president of the United States does not have the authority to stop them, it is obvious that, if Netanyahu is re-elected and the Republicans win the 2016 elections, the probability of a war with Iran will increase exponentially. Perhaps, the logical choice would be that Netanyahu run in the upcoming Republican primaries and opt for the presidency. That would clear up everything. When the tail wags the dog, things go badly.