Israel’s Hostility Toward Iran Deal Is Not Really About a Nuclear Weapon

Reminds me of a burglar griping about homeowners attacking him by installing burglar alarms.

http://inthesetimes.com/article/18211/israels-hostility-toward-iran-deal-is-not-really-about-the-bomb

Personally, if someone was threatening to beat the shit out of me—or if I even imagined that was about to happen—I would be grateful for any help I could get. And if that help came from the leaders of the four toughest gangs in the hood, who also offered to stick around to make sure my tormentor didn’t return, I would be way beyond grateful.

But I am not Bibi, of course, and Bibi was not grateful. In fact, Bibi was spitting mad. The agreement, he said, was a “stunning historic mistake” that makes the world “a much more dangerous place today than it was yesterday.”

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What really concerns the prime minister—and has concerned every Israeli prime minister since the Sixties – is having a regional rival with the same deterrent capacity that Israel has. Israel’s regional strategy is based on the concept that it is, and must remain, the sole regional superpower. There is no place in Israeli geo-strategic thinking for a militarily and diplomatically powerful Iran, with or without the bomb.

That determination to remain on top has only increased in recent years with the fragmentation of the Middle East (civil wars in Syria and Yemen, the spread of ISIS) and the increasingly visible role played by Iran in many of the regional conflicts. While Israel can only play a minor and clandestine role in the current crises (the open support of Israel would be the kiss of death for any side,) Iran has come into its own. That threatens to unbalance long-standing Israeli strategy.

In fact, some Israeli officials complained after the deal was announced this week that the Big Four negotiators had limited themselves to the nuclear issue only – as if their brief had been to do Israel’s bidding and ensure that Iran was emasculated as a regional rival on all levels. That indeed has been Israel’s approach throughout the negotiations.