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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan | |
| When dove Ehud Barak seconds hawk Bibi Netanyahu, it's serious | |
| 2011-11-06 | |
| By Ken Blackwell The headlines are stark indeed. "Israel Readies a Pre-Emptive Strike." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is said to be working to persuade reluctant members of his coalition cabinet to go along with such a military option against Islamist Iran. The Huffington Post's British edition first reports Netanyahu saying this: "One of those regional powers is Iran, which is continuing its efforts to obtain nuclear weapons. A nuclear Iran would constitute a grave threat to the Middle East and the entire world, and of course it is a direct and grave threat on us." The report goes on: One day later, defence minister Ehud Barak, struck a similar tone. "A situation could be created in the Middle East in which Israel must defend its vital interests in an independent fashion, without necessarily having to reply on other forces, regional or otherwise," he said. Ehud Barak's comments are most interesting. He was the Labor Party Prime Minister in 2000 who offered the Palestinians 97 percent of the territory they claimed as theirs, reserving only those limited regions thought absolutely essential to Israeli security. The Palestinians balked and commenced yet another "intifada" uprising. The leaders of the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) preferred to send stone-throwing teenagers to confront armed Israeli soldiers and tanks rather than engage in serious negotiations for peace. Ehud Barak could qualify as an Israeli "dove," but he is first and foremost a soldier and an Israeli patriot. It's not so surprising that the hawkish Benjamin Netanyahu should be talking of a military strike against Iran. When Ehud Barak joins this conversation, you know it's serious. Israel's dovish Defense Minister Ehud Barak is giving fair warning to the Obama administration: Israel will act to defend itself whether other powers take part or not. The right of self-defense is an inalienable right. The reason Israel was created was so that Jews would have a national home and would not have to rely on the kindness of strangers. If Israel strikes Iran's nuclear weapons program, we cannot say we have not been warned. Not much this administration has done in the Middle East should give Israelis confidence that they can rely on their feckless friends in Washington to support them when push comes to shove. Ken Blackwell, a board member of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, is a former US. ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission and a senior fellow at the Family Research Council.
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| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #2 Now to convince Israelis ("we can take risk of territorial concessions because USA has our back". Morons!) |
| Posted by: gr(o)mgoru 2011-11-06 03:16 |
| #1 The reason Israel was created was so that Jews would have a national home and would not have to rely on the kindness of strangers Finally, an American who gets it! |
| Posted by: gr(o)mgoru 2011-11-06 03:10 |