10 | MAY 13 • 2021 

continued from page 8

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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