[THS] Israel Hiding Behind The Iranian Threat

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http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26003.htm



Israel Hiding Behind The "Iranian Threat"

By Steven Zhou
July 23, 2010 "The Canadian Charger" --  With the recent formation of The
Emergency Committee for Israel, the neoconservative and Likudnik characters on the
American right have stepped up their anti-Iranian lobbying efforts. Among other
things, they have again brought up how a nuclear Iran would pose an "imminent
threat" that would tear the region apart.

This renewed exaggeration of an Iranian threat to Israel comes at a time when Israel
is clearly being shown to be a strategic liability to the U.S., a fact the Israel Lobby has
so far concealed with great success.

Israel’s obsession with Iran, though, is two-sided. While some perceive a nuclear Iran
to be a major existential threat, others on Israel’s far right cite pragmatic, if not
cynical, reasons for this rancid rhetoric.

The government of Benjamin Netanyahu is undoubtedly using the threat of Iran to
create a climate of fear that will distract world attention from The Gaza Massacre and
the Flotilla incident, both of which have seriously undermined Israel’s standing in the
world.

This tactic also reinforces the rhetoric about Israel’s “scared bond” with the U.S. in
the war against “Islamic Terrorism,” while not having to answer for its own nuclear
arsenal

Since Israel’s American-backed arsenal of nuclear weapons does not receive nearly as
much attention as does Iran’s attempts to acquire nuclear power, it might be useful
to look at things from Iran’s perspective.

For its part, the U.S. has managed to have weak, but still damaging, sanctions
imposed on Iran, while Israel, a genuine nuclear power, constantly shouts about
bombing it.

Recently, the U.S. navy shipped missiles and more than 300 “bunker busters” to the
island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, which is within striking distance of Iran.
Furthermore, several of the countries that border Iran have U.S. troops.

Considering these factors, along with the fact that Israel is not a signatory to the
Nuclear Proliferation Treaty, even hawkish analysts within the Israeli establishment
have noted Iran’s need to have at least the option of a nuclear deterrent.

Israeli strategist Martin Van Creveld, for example, has noted that Iran’s president
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is “not crazy at all,” and that he would essentially do what
Ahmadinejad is doing if he were in his position.

Furthermore, Iran can cite UN Security Council Resolution 1887, which states that
threats of force are illegal when settling nuclear disputes.

No amount of anti-Iranian hysteria, though, can hide the fact that Israel is at a
crossroads.

Its only chance of preserving a Jewish state is through a two-state solution with the
Palestinians, but settlement-building throughout the years has pretty much destroyed
that option.

Israel’s unpopularity is also costing the U.S. all kinds of strategic leverage in the
region and precipitating hatred toward both countries. Given its need for oil, a
complete lack of U.S. allies in the Middle East would prove disastrous.

Confronted with an insoluble domestic problem and the possibility of having no
friends in the world, we see why Israel is forced to hide behind the “Iranian threat”
to prove its “strategic worth” to the U.S.