One country after another has recently pressed Israel not to attack the Iranian nuclear facilities. Russia is the latest:
“Of course any possible military scenario against Iran will be catastrophic for the region and for the whole system of international relations,” Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said at a news conference.
“Therefore I hope Israel understands all these consequences … and they should also consider the consequences of such action for themselves,” Gatilov said.
There must be something in the Russian character that requires statements like this to be delivered in a bullying tone.
Everyone knows that the Iranian threat to Israel is existential. Everyone also knows that Israel’s leaders can predict Iran’s reaction to an Israeli attack, and would not bring this down on their country unless they were convinced that there was no other way to neutralize the more serious nuclear threat.
These warnings, therefore, are remarkably hypocritical and insulting, especially from countries whose immediate danger from Iranian bombs is far less than that of Israel. Telling Israel that it should not defend itself is like saying “just die, but don’t make a mess.”
When have Jews heard this before? It’s become a cliché, but one that still resonates. The difference is that then they had no choice because they had no power to defend themselves. Today there is a Jewish state, which should not be expected to act as though it is as powerless as the European Jews of WWII.
All this is part of the “Israel is expected to…” syndrome.
Israel’s small size means that it cannot absorb too much disruption: a couple of atomic bombs, a few million Arab ‘refugees’, another expulsion of Jews from their homes, even a million economic refugees from Africa might be too much. Poof, there would be no Jewish state.
But Israel is expected to be ‘responsible’ and not strike Iran. Israel is expected to use restraint toward the vicious Hamas and Hizbollah terrorists who are trying to murder its citizens day in and day out. Israel is expected to expel its own people and cede territory to its enemies, who have shown by their actions and declared in their words that they want to destroy her.
Israel is expected to be more democratic than any other nation, although it is already too democratic — does the US, for example, have members of Congress who openly support her enemies and call for overthrowing the Constitution? The Israeli Knesset has Haneen Zouabi and others who want to end the Jewish state.
Israel is expected to turn the other cheek in Christian fashion, although few Christian nations would do so in similar circumstances.