Ken Berwitz
Could a nuclear dealwith Iran accomplish more than what decades of diplomacy in the Middle Eastcould not, and create new alliances between Israel and its Arab neighbors?
That\’s a key questionas we gear up for the battle on Capitol Hill over President Barack Obama\’scontroversial pact with Tehran to limit uranium enrichment in return for thelifting of sanctions. Critics say the agreement paves the way for a doublereward for Tehran – a huge influx of cash and an eventual, unfettered pathtoward nuclear arms.
Neither the Saudis,the Kuwaitis, the United Arab Emirates – nor for that matter any of the otherPersian Gulf states -are too excited about the prospect of a nuclear-armedIran. The role of Iran in the conflicts in Iraq and Syria, and the rise ofIslamic State terror and the Muslim Brotherhood, have become a much biggerproblem for Arab leaders than the tired conflict with Israel. Those countrieshave a Sunni majority, while Persian Iran is led by rival Shia Muslims.
Clearly, the momentumfor alignment with Israel in some form is building.
“To all those whothink the Persian state, and the regime of the Rule of the Impruden… thedictatorial fascist Persian regime which controls it, is a friendly country,whereas Israel is an enemy country, I say that a prudent enemy is better thanan imprudent one.”
Those words werewritten by Abdallah Al-Hadlaq in the official newspaper of Kuwait, Al-Watan.
Will that mean anuclear pact between Israel and its former enemies? That would be a fascinatingdevelopment that could never have been imagined even a decade ago.
And it will truly be asad irony if, after nearly 70 years of a solid relationship between the UnitedStates and Israel, the Jewish state had to turn to despotic regimes with littleor no human rights to solidify its security position, feeling far less thanconfident that Washington has its back than it has in the past.
Yet this maysimply be the beginning of an Arab-Israeli accord, where both groups can beginto understand and accept each other.
Mr. Verschleiser hopes for a lot, doesn\’t he?
Understanding and acceptance of Israel, I would think, is nowhere in the horizon. The only understanding and acceptance I see is that “The enemy of my enemy is my friend”, on a strictly situation-specific basis. But who knows? In the Middle East, I suppose, anything is possible.
The part that really gets to me is his next to last paragraph, which reminds us that, in the era of Obama, Israel may find more value in aligning with “despotic regimes with little or no human rights” than the country which once was its most important ally………and, if the 2016 elections go well, will be again.
There are many reasons that I count the days until Barack Obama is out of office. The nuclear “deal” with Iran – which puts not just Israel and the Middle East, but the USA and the rest of the world in danger, and the hope, however limited, that a new President can do something about it, is the single biggest one.
