Now’s the time to strip Israel of its WMDs

Big WMD symbols

By Gilad Atzmon

The Israelis are not very impressed with Hassan Rouhani, the new Iranian president. Israeli Prime Minister Binjamin Netanyahu ordered Israel’s delegation to boycott his appearance at the United Nations General Assembly on 24 September and later denounced Rouhani’s address there as “a cynical speech that was full of hypocrisy”.

But Israel seems to be alone this time. Both the United States and other Western nations appeared to warmly welcome the new Iranian president at the UN.

But did Rouhani present any radical change? Did he deliver new promises? Not at all. Like his predecessor, he made it clear that Iran is not going to give up on its right to develop nuclear energy. Ss with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Rouhani contended that “nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction have no place in Iran’s security and defence doctrine, and contradict our fundamental religious and ethical convictions. Our national interests make it imperative that we remove any and all reasonable concerns about Iran’s peaceful nuclear programme.”

Even God won’t be able to save his chosen people from themselves. But there is something the UN can do: stripping Israel of its chemical, biological and nuclear arsenal.

Rouhani also suggested that the world should recognize Iran’s basic right to carry out all parts of its nuclear fuel cycle. In short, Iran is going ahead with its nuclear project. And this is indeed very good news.

So what has actually changed? Only one thing, I guess. The appetite of other countries has changed. And they seem brave enough to admit it to themselves.

Because of intense Jewish lobbying and the submissive nature of contemporary Western politicians, not many Western governments dare criticize Israel. They clearly fear Netanyahu and his network of “800 pound gorillas”. Through kindness to Israel’s “enemy”, our weak politicians have managed to find a way to deliver a message to Israel. Welcoming Rouhani at the UN was a clear message to the Jewish state and its supportive lobby: beware, we are gradually becoming tired of your dirty politics and pushing for wars.

As an avid reader of Jewish history, I allow myself to say that the failure to read the writing on the wall is intrinsic to Jewish identity politics and culture. One might expect Israel and the lobby to back off at this point. But this is not going to happen. Israel and the lobby will act more obnoxiously. They will use every trick in their book to close this opening window of a dialogue and reconciliation.

Israel is doomed to bring a tragedy on itself and the region. Even God won’t be able to save his chosen people from themselves. But there is something the UN can do: stripping Israel of its chemical, biological and nuclear arsenal. I can see such a demand brewing up and I would love to see it materializing soon.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email