We cannot let pass without comment the news that James Clapper, the director of National Intelligence, recently submitted to the United States Senate his agency’s annual report, Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Communities, in which Iran and Hizbullah had been removed from the list of terrorism threats.
Nothing we have seen leads us to believe they have abandoned their terrorist ways. Indeed, Iran is still widely seen as the leading sponsor of terror around the world and both Iran and Hizbullah regularly threaten to obliterate Israel.
Why the change? The report itself suggests an explanation. Both Iran and Hizbullah are cited as playing major roles in fighting ISIS, which is described as constituting the preeminent terrorist threat to American interests worldwide.
This is yet one more indication that the U.S. and Israel don’t necessarily share the same security concerns and priorities – and that Israel needs to tailor its defense strategies around what’s good for Israel rather than around what Washington dictates.