Israel No Longer Certain Obama Would Ever Use Force Against Iran, Likud MK Indicates

[Purveyor]

NEW YORK — Israel is no longer certain that the Obama administration would employ military force even as a last resort to thwart Iran attaining nuclear weapons, a senior colleague of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated for the first time.

That new uncertainty was a relatively recent development, Tzachi Hanegbi, a Likud Knesset member and former cabinet minister, further indicated. The turning point was America’s response to the crisis over the alleged use of chemical weapons by Syria’s Assad regime in late August. And it explained why Netanyahu, in his speech at the UN General Assembly, felt the imperative to warn the Iranians that Israel would act on its own if necessary.

Speaking to The Times of Israel in New York in the wake of Netanyahu’s speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Hanegbi said “the most dramatic part” of the prime minister’s address was the passage in which he warned, “Israel will not allow Iran to get nuclear weapons. If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone.”

Why was this so dramatic, Hanegbi asked rhetorically? “Because it marked the first time it was said in public, and not behind closed doors, that Israel will act even if stands alone.”

“What does that mean, to ‘stand alone,’” he asked, again rhetorically? “After all, we didn’t expect the world to act. But our expectation was and remains that the United States — if the negotiations do indeed fail — would employ the military option which the president has said several times is not removed from the table. But we saw recently that even if the president has a clear and unequivocal position, as in the Syrian case, sometimes all kinds of constraints are placed upon him that are not under his control, like the position of Congress or American public opinion. (President Barack Obama initially threatened punitive military action for the Assad regime’s August 21 alleged chemical weapons attack, later said he would consult Congress, and ultimately accepted a Russian-instigated diplomatic initiative.)

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http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-no-longer-certain-obama-would-ever-use-force-against-iran-likud-mk-indicates/

[Scootaloo]

1. And if Israel decides to act alone, we should smack 'em in the chops like in '56

I think we've been very tolerant of our little client state... but there's not a chance that the US will allow Israel to try to destroy diplomatic processes the US is interested in accomplishing.

[leveymg]

2. From Good Cop-Bad Cop to Bad Lieutenant.

The Lieutenant: [to his young sons as he drives them late to school] Hey, listen to me. I'm the boss, not Aunt Wendy. When it's your time to use the bathroom, you tell Aunt Wendy to get the fuck out of the bathroom! What are you, men or mice? She's hoggin' the bathroom - call me! Call me, and I'll throw her the fuck out!

< ...>
Julio: (after giving the Lieutenant drugs) Shit's gonna kill you, man!

The Lieutenant: What the fuck are you? A drug counsellor... or a drug dealer? If you don't deal your own product, what kind of businessman are you?

< . . .>

Beat Cop: I told you once before that this guy will come by your house and blow up your house up with your wife and kids and everybody in it. You know that, right?

The Lieutenant: Good, good. I'll give him an extra ten grand for his trouble. I hate that fucking house.

[ecstatic]

3. Being forced to think twice about unilateral, pre-emptive strikes sounds like a

good thing. It's disrespectful to start a fight and expect someone else to finish it. War is serious. If there ever comes a time when Israel feels it must strike AND is genuinely willing to do so alone, then I'm almost certain that the US (and the world) would have Israel's back.

[KoKo]

4. What "Bad Timing" to show up when USA is in Budget Crisis!

I saw him as the dark Cheney showing up when POB had many other things on his mind than "minding BeBe."

It was insconsiderate and illconsidered for him to make such an appearance to threaten and bully.

But....at least he didn't get to address Congress for the Applause and Genuflecting like in his last time here.

I wonder if he's ignoring a changing world...and he just can't see it or doesn't know how to deal with it....except to Threaten and Bully. He has the Power...but is it now just about the money we give him that he does this? He seems to have little sense of "decorum."

He goes over the boundaries.

[geek tragedy]

5. Or, what good timing of Iran to pursue detente when Bibi couldn't

unleash the AIPAC barrage.