by Dan Margalit
Four days ago, Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe (Bogie) Ya'alon
were surprised to learn, during U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's
visit, that the West was planning to unfreeze some $3 billion held in
American banks to give to Iran. On Friday, it emerged that the Americans
were willing to make even bigger concessions -- they are ready to
gradually lift various economic sanctions.
Netanyahu warned of a
"bad deal," even a terrible one. France shares his view, and possibly
the American Congress as well. Britain understands the problem, but the
British government has already suffered embarrassment -- on the Syrian
issue -- so Prime Minister David Cameron is now careful to adhere to
U.S. President Barack Obama's point of view.
Fortunately, the famous
Hebrew proverb "grasp all -- lose all" hasn't been translated into
Persian. The Iranians demanded that the West lift the sanctions on the
oil industry and there was some friction. In the meantime, the West
began listening to the voices coming from Israel, the American Congress
and the French Foreign Ministry. On Saturday, the powers continued to
negotiate with the Iranians in Geneva, but the pens are not poised to
sign anything yet.
So how much weight does
Israel's opposition to this budding deal with Iran, which in essence
refuses to slow down its nuclear momentum, actually carry?
During the term of the
previous Israeli government, Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Ehud
Barak, and most of the members of the forum of eight top ministers,
played their cards close to the chest. They gave the impression that
Israel could launch a military attack on Iran's nuclear program at any
minute. As long as this was a credible possibility, the West was
terrified and agreed to impose real sanctions on Iran as long as the
Israel Defense Forces refrain from taking action. In this, Israel was
gloriously successful.
This veiled threat,
simulating a game of diplomatic poker, is no longer in effect. Speaking
on public television on Friday, Haaretz columnist Ari Shavit pointed to
reckless remarks by President Shimon Peres, former Mossad chief Meir
Dagan, former Shin Bet security service director Yuval Diskin and former
IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi as a factor in the gradual decline of
the power of the Israeli threat to launch an independent military
attack. What a shame.
After all, it is
entirely obvious that the Western business world is turning a blind eye
and wishing for renewed trade with Iran, and that every country is ready
to compete with its neighbors. Finance ministers across the globe have
told Israel's Finance Minister Yair Lapid as much. Everyone understands
that it would be dangerous to crack the dam, unless there are countries
in the enlightened world that don't care whether Iran becomes a nuclear
power.
Obama is a short-term
president. His bonds will be cashed in within three years. If Iran
refrains from developing nuclear weapons in that time frame, then he
will have done his job and he can say: "après moi le deluge" (the flood
will come after I'm gone). But the world is worried about Washington's
short-sightedness. It is not just the West that is concerned, but all of
the U.S.'s allies in the Middle East as well.
The deal is "very bad"
because it brings the Iranian ayatollahs closer to their nuclear goal.
It is a terrible deal, because it leaves the U.S. allies in the Middle
East -- Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states and Egypt -- vulnerable and
horror-struck.
Dan Margalit
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=6273
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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