When asked about the Biden administration’s reported new “arrangement” with Iran regarding its nuclear program, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded, “More than 90% of our security issues stem from Iran and its [proxies]. …
Israel faces a Hobbesian choice. If it attacks, the attack will almost certainly trigger a regional war—unless the U.S. jumps in to prevent it from escalating—that will see tens of thousands of rockets launched by Iran’s terrorist proxies Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza at the heart of Israeli cities.
Those attacks, paid for by the billions of dollars Iran will receive in sanctions relief, will result in thousands of Israeli deaths. It will be a national and humanitarian disaster.
The alternative, however, is worse. A nuclear Iran threatens the lives of nine million Israelis. If the Jews have learned anything from history, it is to believe what your enemies say. Iran continually says it will wipe Israel off the map.
When Herzl announced that principle at the First Zionist Congress in 1897, it met resistance from Jews around the world. They felt that Jews might be entitled to their own state but, despite antisemitism in their own countries, they were living well enough in Europe and the United States. They did not want to do anything that might compromise their positions there. Pre-Holocaust Germany provides the best example of that shortsighted view.
The Holocaust changed things. Jews and their supporters around the world came to the realization that the establishment of a Jewish state was a moral imperative if the Jews were to survive as a people.
The question is not whether Israel will act alone against Iran. If it has the capability, it will. The better question is what America will do if Israel attacks. An immediate response in support of Israel in order to contain the conflict will be critical. But do not count on it. The Biden administration cannot even bring itself to defend American forces in Syria and Iraq when they are attacked by Iran and its proxies.
Progressives prefer their Jews as victims. That is their primary objection to Israel. The Jewish state exists precisely because Jews refused to be victims. Moreover, Israel is a regional power, which is an unpardonable sin in the eyes of progressives.
Produced in association with Jewish News Syndicate
Edited by Bilal Zafar Ranjha and Newsdesk Manager
