Washington has abandoned its obligations
Caroline B. Glick Philadelphia Inquirer Sun, May. 17, 2009
www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20090517_Washington_has_abandoned_its_obligations.html

Last Sunday, the head of Israel's military intelligence reported that Iran
has mastered the nuclear fuel cycle and can rapidly move from low-grade
uranium enrichment to weapons-grade uranium enrichment. He also said that
the next 18 months will be "critical" for preventing Iran from acquiring
nuclear weapons.
There is a national consensus in Israel that preventing Iran from acquiring
nuclear weapons is the most important and urgent national-security challenge
facing the country. Even if Iran refrains from using the weapons directly
against Israel, a nuclear-armed Iran will accelerate its efforts to
destabilize and destroy the Jewish state by using its proxies in the
Palestinian Authority, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq to wage constant,
unrelenting terror, guerrilla and conventional warfare.
A nuclear arsenal will likewise help Iran to expand its sphere of influence
by empowering it to escalate its efforts to overthrow the Jordanian and
Egyptian regimes, and accelerate Hamas' takeover of the Palestinian
Authority, scuttling peace negotiations and peace treaties with Israel.
Other Arab states - including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Morocco, and Kuwait -
will also see their regimes threatened or overthrown by radical forces
operating under Iran's nuclear umbrella.
And this is the best-case scenario.
It is no wonder, then, that Israelis of all political stripes are deeply
disturbed by the Obama administration's Middle East policies. Since taking
office, President Obama has made it clear that preventing Iran from
acquiring nuclear weapons is not a major concern for him. Rather, he strives
to open diplomatic relations with Iran in the inexplicable hope that Iran
can be appeased out of a nuclear program that has already brought it to the
cusp of regional hegemony.
Over the last several weeks, as part of the buildup to tomorrow's meeting
between Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the
administration has ratcheted up its rhetoric against Israel. Vice President
Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, national security adviser
James Jones, and White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel are among those who
have stated that Israel cannot expect the United States to support its aim
of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons unless Israel first makes
concessions to the Palestinians. That is, if Iran acquires nuclear weapons,
Israel will be to blame.
Israelis are mystified by this position. With Iran's proxy Hamas in charge
of Gaza, and ascendant in the West Bank, it is clear that any Palestinian
state that is established in the near future will be an Iranian-aligned
terror state at war with Israel. That is, while administration officials
claim "the only solution is a two-state solution," Israelis recognize that
the rapid establishment of a Palestinian state will only cause more war,
terror, and regional instability.
Moreover, statements by Biden and Defense Secretary Robert Gates expressing
the administration's opposition to an Israeli military strike against Iran's
nuclear installations, together with Assistant Secretary of State Rose
Gottemoeller's recent call for Israel to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty, have led many Israelis to perceive a strategic and moral blindness
informing the administration's views about Israel and Iran. Apparently, for
the administration, there is no difference between Israel, a stalwart U.S.
ally and fellow democracy, and Iran - a terror-supporting,
human-rights-violating, self-declared enemy of the United States that has
been attacking U.S. citizens, interests, and allies since the 1979 Islamic
revolution, and has repeatedly called for Israel to be eradicated.
A poll taken earlier this month by Bar Ilan University showed that only 38
percent of Israelis view Obama as friendly toward Israel. Moreover, 66
percent of Israelis support a military strike on Iran's nuclear
installations, and only 15 percent say they believe Israel should cancel an
attack on Iran if the United States opposes the operation.
These data are important for understanding how Israelis are responding to
the Obama administration's apparent hostility toward Israel and its
perceived preference for a nuclear-armed Iran over any concerted action by
the United States or Israel to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power.
What the administration is signaling Israelis - and their government - is
that Washington is no longer Israel's trusted ally. Indeed, it is becoming
clear to the Israeli public that, for the administration, it doesn't matter
what Israel does or what its enemies do. As far as Obama and his advisers
are concerned, Israel's refusal to make further concessions to the
Palestinians will be the cause for whatever transpires.
In this state of affairs, on the eve of the Obama-Netanyahu meeting, more
and more Israelis have come to the conclusion that there is little point in
taking Washington's views into consideration. If Washington is going to
blame Israel anyway, we are better off being blamed for preemptively
removing the threat of a new Holocaust than for allowing that threat to
become a fact of life.

Caroline B. Glick is the senior contributing editor and columnist for the
Jerusalem Post and senior fellow for Middle Eastern affairs at the Center
for Security Policy
E-mail Caroline B. Glick at caroline@carolineglick.com.