Prime Minister Netanyahu explained this week that the lifting of sanctions on Iran will necessarily lead to the completion of a number of nuclear bombs. In other words, Netanyahu’s decade-long strategy of making speeches on the danger of a nuclear Iran while passing the buck for action to the U.S. has totally failed.
There is no chance any more that Netanyahu will order the IDF to attack Iran. Ten years ago, when Ahmadinejad openly declared that he was developing nuclear weapons to destroy Israel, an Israeli attack on Iran would have enjoyed international approval. We can even say that the world expected an Israeli attack. At the time, any international condemnations would have been no more than lip service.
But now? After Israel has absolved itself of responsibility, making the U.S. responsible in its stead? After the U.S. and Europe have reached accords with Iran, essentially endorsing the existing situation? Now, if Israel attacks, it will be tantamount to attacking the U.S. and the entire world. Netanyahu will never do that.
Additionally, from an operational standpoint, Netanyahu’s strategy of making speeches while passing the buck has brought us – 10 years down the line – to a situation in which the military operation that Begin carried out against Iraq’s nuclear reactor in 1981 is child’s play compared to what is currently needed.
Since Ahmadinejad began making his threats, the Iranian nuclear cancer has spread. The relevant nuclear sites have proliferated, some of the systems have already gone “hot,” (attacking an active nuclear reactor is a totally different story), and large sections of the nuclear mechanism is now ensconced deep underground. Neutralizing Iran’s nuclear capabilities is much more complex than it used to be.
So the next time you hear Netanyahu explaining how bad the approaching accords are, and how they will lead to nuclear weapons in the hands of the Ayatollahs, realize that it is like a new CEO who receives a flourishing company, brings it to bankruptcy, and then explains to the stockholders that the competition is to blame.
What Netanyahu is really saying is: I know that I promised that it will not happen on my watch, but it happened. Start getting used to the fact that your children will have to live in the shadow of a nuclear Iran (and Hizballah).