10 | MAY 13 • 2021
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ating in a joint effort to derail
the Islamist regime’s nuclear
ambitions, the administration
went out of its way to disavow
any role in Israel’s recent suc-
cessful attack on Iran’s Natanz
nuclear facility.
The implication of these
off-the-record comments
from “senior administration
officials” is that the adminis-
tration regarded Israel’s efforts
as seeking to forestall an
American push to re-engage
with Iran.
A news analysis published
in the Washington Post filled
with quotes from anonymous
American and European
sources, as well as some
on-the-record potshots from
former Obama administra-
tion figures, said the Jewish
state was trying to play “the
spoiler” to undermine Biden’s
diplomacy.
The liberal magazine Slate
labeled the attack as an act of
a “sneaky saboteur,” as if there
was something inherently
illegitimate about actions that
sought to prevent a terrorist
theocracy from acquiring a
nuclear weapon that could
fulfill the ayatollah’s genocidal
threats against Israel.
As Martin Peretz pointed
out in Tablet, while Secretary
of State Antony Blinken’s mes-
saging on Iran has sounded a
moderate tone, he has essen-
tially outsourced the nuclear
issue to Robert Malley, Biden’s
special envoy on Iran. Malley
was not only one of the chief
architects of the disastrous
nuclear deal with Iran; he is a
veteran appeaser and critic of
Israel.
In essence, right now the
United States is asking Israel
to back off on its efforts to
stop Iran and to trust Biden’s
team to deliver a diplomatic
solution to the problem. But
given that Malley has demon-
strated no interest in strength-
ening the nuclear pact so as
to forestall an Iranian bomb
or stop the regime’s terrorism,
that’s a leap of faith that no
responsible Israeli govern-
ment can make.
QUESTIONS REMAIN
More to the point, Zarif’s
revelation about Kerry’s
sharing of intel about their
anti-Iran operations makes it
clear to the Israelis that the
administration isn’t merely
wrongheaded in its approach
but may actively be seeking
to undermine their country’s
security and that of its region-
al allies.
Not only did Psaki refuse
to answer a question about
Kerry’s astonishing betray-
al, she didn’t even make an
attempt to say something that
might reassure the Israelis that
the administration regarded
this as an issue of concern, let
alone something about which
an apology should be forth-
coming. An investigation into
this scandal is imperative. So
is Kerry’s resignation from his
current post.
The implication here is
something that advocates
for Obama’s signature for-
eign-policy accomplishment
have always been at pains
to contradict. Democratic
apologists for the deal have
spent the last six years trying
to claim that the agreement
was the best way to safeguard
Israel against an Iranian
nuclear weapon.
However, critics pointed to
the way the deal empowered
and enriched a rogue regime
and asked whether the goal
was very different from the
one Obama had discussed.
Obama said it was a chance
to give Iran the opportunity
to “get right with the world”
by giving up its nuclear ambi-
tions. Instead, the deal may
have been part of an effort to
shift American policy in the
region from one of an alliance
with Israel and the Gulf states
to one in which Iran would
supplant them as America’s
best friend in the region.
Few would have believed
this claim in 2015. And yet,
the impact of the agreement
on the region, coupled with
Kerry’s actions and the efforts
of Obama alumni to return
to the deal on Biden’s watch,
lend some credibility to this
theory.
Whatever Obama intended
or what Biden may want now,
the inescapable conclusion
from these events is that
the Israelis should be in no
doubt about the fact that they
are being abandoned by the
United States with respect to
Iran. This leaves Israel with
no good options.
Nevertheless, the Jewish
state has no choice but to pro-
ceed as if its future safety lies
solely in its own hands. If the
Biden administration or the
Democratic Party don’t like
that, they can reverse course
and start acting as if they take
the Iranian nuclear threat
seriously.
Otherwise, they should
pipe down and let the Israelis
do what they must to stop an
existential threat to their exis-
tence.
Jonathan S. Tobin is editor in chief of
JNS — Jewish News Syndicate. Follow
him on Twitter at: @jonathans_tobin.
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— Cindy Ludwig
Franklin
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