Ha'aretz: Iran Nuking Israel Problem Will Take Care of Itself
Yesterday it was Akiva Eldar not-so-subtly slipping the phrase "over-hyped debate on the Iranian nuclear question" into a bitter article complaining that all those dead terrorism victims were taking the wind out of Amir Peretz's sails. Today it's the Ha'aretz editorial team declaring that Israel should avoid even talking about Iran's nuclear program because the international community might still work something out:
The government made a correct decision about two years ago, when Netanyahu was still a cabinet member, that combating Iran's nuclearization is a matter for the international community as a whole, and that it is better that Israel not stand alone on the front lines... if the efforts of the international community, the UN Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency, fail to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. That would be a failure for the United States and European nations who are leading the negotiations with Iran on this issue. The multilateral negotiations with Iran are not over. Russia, which built a nuclear reactor for Iran in Bushehr, can also play an important role in the process. The Board of Governors of the IAEA has not reached a decision yet on whether to refer the matter to the Security Council.
Sure all those things are nice in theory, but those of us who read newspapers know that Iran has declared in advance that negotiations will fail , Russia just got done selling Iran billions in weapons, and the IAEA isn't going to refer Iran to the Security Council < any time soon. Meanwhile, Iran is building more and more plants with help from more and more countries, while just about everyone now concedes that the mullahs will have nuclear weapons within the next few months. But for some reason it's vitally important to the Ha'aretz editorial board that Israel not upset anyone by suggesting that it has a right to defend itself and prevent its six million citizens from dying in a nuclear first strike.
But if you want the super-depressing article from today's news: even if Israel tried to militarily attack Iran, odds are they'd fail.
[Cross-posted at IsraPundit]
The government made a correct decision about two years ago, when Netanyahu was still a cabinet member, that combating Iran's nuclearization is a matter for the international community as a whole, and that it is better that Israel not stand alone on the front lines... if the efforts of the international community, the UN Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency, fail to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. That would be a failure for the United States and European nations who are leading the negotiations with Iran on this issue. The multilateral negotiations with Iran are not over. Russia, which built a nuclear reactor for Iran in Bushehr, can also play an important role in the process. The Board of Governors of the IAEA has not reached a decision yet on whether to refer the matter to the Security Council.
Sure all those things are nice in theory, but those of us who read newspapers know that Iran has declared in advance that negotiations will fail , Russia just got done selling Iran billions in weapons, and the IAEA isn't going to refer Iran to the Security Council < any time soon. Meanwhile, Iran is building more and more plants with help from more and more countries, while just about everyone now concedes that the mullahs will have nuclear weapons within the next few months. But for some reason it's vitally important to the Ha'aretz editorial board that Israel not upset anyone by suggesting that it has a right to defend itself and prevent its six million citizens from dying in a nuclear first strike.
But if you want the super-depressing article from today's news: even if Israel tried to militarily attack Iran, odds are they'd fail.
[Cross-posted at IsraPundit]
