But he bombed the bunkers!!!

A number of my American friends asked what I thought of the United States bombing Iran’s nuclear sites. As a proud Jersey boy who lived in the US for more than six decades before moving to Tel Aviv six years ago, I didn’t have a simple answer.

On one hand, I thought Iran should be punished for decades of sponsoring terrorist militias such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis. So, I felt comfortable saying, bomb baby, bomb.

On the other hand, I abhorred the idea of America getting sucked into another miserable, unwinnable war, as it did in Vietnam (see Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy,  Lyndon Johson, and Richard Nixon) Iraq, and Afghanistan, (thank you, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney). So, I thought it might have been wiser to keep those bunker busters at bay.

As a Jew, I believe in the right of my people to have a homeland, the same as Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians do. If Muslims in Israel don’t want to live in Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, or elsewhere in the region, that is their choice. However, if Iran chooses to arm Muslims in Israel to help them conquer all Israeli-held territory from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea so they can establish a theocratic Palestinian state, then, I had no problem saying, bomb baby, bomb.

On other hand, if America’s bunker busters gave the messianic extremists of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government the green light to pillage and burn Palestinian villages in the West Bank, and deport all Palestinians from the river to the sea, then I wished Trump had bridled his bombs.

Even if Iran didn’t have the ability to build nuclear weapons, I support Israel’s latest moves to subdue a nation actively committed to its destruction. Iran’s land mass is 75 times bigger than Israel’s. It has more than 90 million people compared to Israel’s 9.75 million. It boasts the world’s 29th largest economy, compared to Israel’s (ranked 34th). A hostile behemoth that has destabilized the Middle East can not continue to wreak havoc. Yes, bomb baby, bomb.

On the other hand, Donald Trump, the father of the Make-America-Great-Again movement who vilified George Bush for his nation-building efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, has suddenly changed his stripes. Now he wants to remake the Middle East in his unpredictable, transactional image. Is he serious? Will he stay the course?

To his credit, Trump has lit a fire under the countries of Western Europe to invest more in their own defense programs. At the same time, he has cozied up to the authoritarian leaders of Hungary and Russia, and his on-and-off-again support of Ukraine has left other American allies (in the East and West) wondering if he has their back, especially if they don’t have vast sources of vital minerals to barter. Might those bunker busters wind up costing Israel more than they were worth?

As one who believes in the governmental institutions of America and Israel, who holds that republics and democracies are better for humankind than theocracies, dictatorships, and totalitarian regimes, I think that Israel’s bombing of Iran’s airfields, missile launchers, and other military sites was justified. When Donald Trump sent seven B-2 stealth bombers to take out Iran’s nuclear sites, I cheered.

On the other hand, when Trump declared that America’s one bombing sortie had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear sites, ending the nuclear threat from Teheran, I didn’t buy it. As Trump has condemned leakers in his administration for offering a less grandiose assessment of his one bombing mission, and contemplated forcing reporters to reveal their government sources, perhaps locking them up for refusing, I want to know what Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition partners really think.

Do they believe Trump’s claims of total “obliteration”? Do they support his move to muzzle critics within his own government? Should he jail reporters who refuse to give up their sources? Do they have the will, the courage, to stand up to, let alone criticize, him as they did so robustly Joe Biden and Barack Obama?

Do the majority of Israelis who sing Trump’s praises believe he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize? How confident are they in Trump’s salesmanship when it comes to establishing a new Middle East where peace and prosperity rain down on everyone?  Do they, Netanyahu supporters excepted, believe he can dictate that Israelis drop the cases of fraud and abuse of power currently in the courts against their prime minister? 

America bombing Iran’s nuclear sites brought up a host of complex, messy issues for Israel and the US. That’s because they are both still democracies, flawed as they may be. Theocracies that quote their holy texts, and totalitarian regimes that usurp absolute power, offer short, simplistic answers.

Even if he did bomb Iran, for my American and Israeli friends who embrace Donald Trump’s quick, easy answers, I have a bridge I’d like to sell them.