In the continuing see-saw dialogues between the United
States and Israel on their strategies towards Iran, the Israeli Minister of
Defense came out and said today, “Israel and the U.S. disagree on what would be
a realistic timetable for stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons” (The
Washington Post 1). At this point only one conclusion can be drawn, the U.S. is
trying its hardest to delay an offensive strike on Iran by Israel. It seems it
is not a question of if Israel will strike Iran but when. Let’s take a look at
the Iran situation through the eyes of Israel. Israel has long been hated by
its surrounding Muslim nations and therefore, Israel has built up a reputation
of striking first, talking later. Being surrounded and severely out-numbered,
Israel already feels threatened by others, but the instant one of its neighbors
might have control of a nuclear weapon, they resort to their basic instincts.
Israel sees the United States as an ally, but an ally that lives thousands of
miles away. In the eyes of Israel, the consequences of Iran having a nuclear
weapon are much more severe for Israel than for the United States. One of the
major reasons why Israel has been left alone for so long is that they
themselves own a nuclear weapon, and have a record for military dominance. This
reputation is what protects them, and allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon
will severely hurt their reputation. It is not surprising that Israel sees a
military strike as the sole option to end the Iran conflict. It worked in the
past when Israel took out nuclear plants in Syria and Iraq, why wouldn’t it
work now? It seems the one thing that Israel forgets is that all previous
attacks were surprise attacks. At this point, if Iran is not prepared for a
military strike, they should be embarrassed. Now all we can do is wait and see
if Israel actually goes through with a strike that could begin a Nuclear War.
Washington Post 1- http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israeli-defense-minister-says-israel-and-us-disagree-on-timetable-for-effective-iran-action/2012/03/22/gIQArjFBTS_story.html
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