International Business Development Consultant
93 Days to Elections: Bibi Goes to DC
In an interview with Fox News before leaving on his trip to Washington to participate in the memorial service for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s campaign against Iran will end only when Tehran is no longer capable of pursuing nuclear weapons, arguing that the regime must either be overthrown or weakened enough to abandon its nuclear program.
He then added that preventing a nuclear-armed Iran remains the central objective of both Israel and the United States. I would add it should be a central objective for the entire Western World.
Further describing his vision of when the war ends, Netanyahu added: “I think when this regime is either toppled or it’s sufficiently weakened that it knows it has to end its nuclear program and has to change its course,” he said, adding that this is “really what President Trump is trying to achieve.”
No doubt this is what he will share with President Trump as well when he meets with him and will then urge Trump to continue the fight to the finish.
Nevertheless, I am wondering what Gadi Eisenkot would convey at such a meeting if he were the Prime Minister scheduled to meet with Trump in Washington this week?
My guess is that the message would have three parts. The first part would be pretty much what Netanyahu told Fox News, that there is no end to the conflict without Tehran’s nuclear threat being neutralized. Whether or not that is fully achievable is, after five months of war, an unresolved question. Nevertheless, that’s the goal.
The second part would be his advice to the US President (who feigns salutes during official functions, but has never ever put on the uniform of the US military) as the former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces. Eisenkot would probably advise that in the future, do not make empty threats when baiting the enemy. You can decide to suspend further fighting under certain conditions. However, once there is a breach of those conditions, previously threatened punitive action should be implemented immediately. Making excuses for the enemy’s action is both pointless and counterproductive.
Finally, Eisenkot would probably make it clear, both publicly and privately, that while he is acting in the best interests of the people and nation of Israel, which is his duty as Prime Minister, any decision by the US to undertake increased military activity against Iran is the purview of the US and the US alone, not to be construed as anything for which Israel is responsible.
The canard that has been prevalent among the US population since the start of the Iran war on February 28th that Israel brought the US into this war is a gross expansion of the facts that only plays into the hands of our domestic enemies in the US. Every Prime Minister of Israel since the Iranian revolution occurred 47 years ago has voiced concern about the existential threat Iran poses not only to Israel, the little Satan, but to the US, the great Satan, as well as to the entire Western world. Urging the US and the West to act before it is too late was always in the best interests of Israel and freedom-loving people everywhere, not something about which to blame Israel when and if some country or countries actually decide to act.
None of us knows what the current Prime Minister intends to share with Trump but we can certainly let our minds wander and think about what a more thoughtful, less volatile human being would do in the same circumstances with the same opportunities.
Hopefully, the elections here in 92 days will give us the opportunity to make a much-needed change and welcome new blood into the halls of power in Israel.
Meanwhile, given the obnoxious pronouncements about our current Prime Minister by the Mayor of the City of New York, I would suggest that while in the US, Netanyahu make a stop in that city, find his way to 38th Street and 7th Avenue in Manhattan and have lunch or dinner at Mr. Broadway, the 104-year-old kosher deli located there.
The Jewish community of New York, as well as the mayor himself, should know that the legally elected head of government of the free and independent State of Israel will not be cowed by the likes of a misinformed mayor. And of course, he will not be arrested while there, just cheered by a grateful community.
These are difficult times and, even though I often disagree with him, it is good to have a Prime Minister who can respectably handle a dispute with our biggest ally nation. Nevertheless, as we age, all of us get a bit more brittle, somewhat slower mentally and not always up to the physical challenges of the day. So we wish the Prime Minister success on this trip but, nevertheless, it is time for a change.
Carthago substituenda est!