Mizrachi SA Jewish Observer - Rosh Hashanah 2015 | Page 6

IRAN WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH WHO BETRAYED WHOM? NETANYAHU AND OBAMA 6 EMMANUEL S. GOLDSTEIN* IRAN SINCE 2009, in increasingly nasty increments, the United States has applied sanctions against Iran and against companies or states which deal with Iran. Impressively, President Obama built a diverse and deep coalition of nations, all speaking with one voice – disavowing the Iranian aspiration towards nuclear weapons. But there was just one problem. Israel. For Israel, the obvious and tested solution was one that they had utilised in 1981 in Iraq – a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. It seems clear that the then shiny-new, charismatic US president painted an alternative for Prime Minister Olmert and then Netanyahu. “Let’s try diplomacy and sanctions,” he proffered. “Let’s try it my way. Let me do what I do best – organise people. Allow me the breathing space to get the world together in a way that a Bush would never manage to. Let me build a coalition. Let me prove to you the power of group-diplomacy to achieve our mutual goals – the complete dismantling of Iran’s nuclear machine.” Continued on pg 8 7