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Getting fed up
By Akiva Eldar
Tags: Israel, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 

Shaul Mofaz is not the first star to cast Iran in a part in the political game in Israel. Twelve years ago, in May 1996, on the eve of an election, the then head of Military Intelligence, Moshe Ya'alon, voiced an "assessment" that the rulers of Iran were hoping that the Likud headed by Benjamin Netanyahu would take over the government from Shimon Peres. At that time, there were those who assumed that the Labor Party would follow in the footsteps of Yitzhak Rabin, who had set up the goal of extending the circle of peace with the Arabs before Iran was able to complete its nuclear plans. Rabin believed this to be a more sensible policy than the method of simply shouting "gevalt."

Since then, Iran has turned into a land of refuge for politicians who are rich in screwups and short on accomplishments. When Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threatens to wipe us off the map, how can one disturb the prime minister with trifles such as the Arab peace initiative? Can anyone expect the defense minister to free himself to take care of the hooligans manning the settlement outposts when a nuclear bomb is ticking in our ears? And how can Condoleezza Rice talk nonsense to us about building in East Jerusalem? She'd be better off spending her time assisting her president, George W. Bush, in enlisting the world's support in combating the Israel-bashers.

The compulsive fixation on the Iranian issue ensures Israel's status in the eyes of creation as the source of trouble. When Israel is perceived as the central factor in the tensions with Iran, it should not be surprised if it is depicted in the world as the major offender in the spiraling cost of oil. John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, the two American academics who published an article in the London Review of Books, and a subsequent book, about the Israel lobby in the United States, and who placed a significant part of the blame for the sorry decision to invade Iraq, on Israel and its supporters in the U.S., have been quick to claim that those very same elements are now stirring up the Iranian quagmire.
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In an interview I conducted with the pair last week in Jerusalem, Walt said that there was no doubt that the Iranian nuclear plan had to be dealt with, but that Israel and sources in the pro-Israel lobby in the U.S. were the only ones putting pressure on the American administration to use force against Tehran. Mearsheimer claimed that the growing threat that U.S. and Israel will attack Iran was forcing that country to deter them by deployment of weapons of mass destruction. Both the professors agreed that the bitter lesson of the war in Iraq, as well as the fear that an attack on Iran would cause the price of oil to ascend to new highs, would prevail this time over the war cries of the pro-Israel lobby.

Many good people have found numerous holes in Mearsheimer and Walt's theory, but many others, some of them less good, have been exposed to it. Millions of readers and Internet surfers in the U.S. and other places have learned that a handful of conservative Jews, with their partners in the Christian right, have bent the Middle East policy of the strongest power on earth to conform to what they consider to be Israel's interest. The words of the two have fallen, and continue to fall, on attentive ears.

Mearsheimer recalled that he had grown up on the Leon Uris's novel "Exodus," from which he learned that the Israelis were the good guys - the cowboys - whereas the Arabs were the "Indians." The present generation understands that the story is much more complicated. Walt made note of the fact that the Arabic word "nakba" ("catastrophe," by which the Palestinians refer to the creation of Israel, in 1948), which was virtually unknown to Americans over the past six decades, had begun making its way into discussions and articles in the media during Israel's 60th-birthday celebrations two months ago.

Television audiences in Israel were absolutely delighted to see the three presidential hopefuls in the United States (McCain and Obama, as well as Hillary Clinton before her withdrawal from the race), standing at the dais at the AIPAC conference in Washington, D.C., two weeks ago, and swearing, one after the other, to take care of Israel's security and welfare. American TV audiences that watched Jon Stewart's satirical "Daily Show" that same week, saw their leaders competing, one after the other, with words of flattery before the Jewish lobby and with expressions of blind support for America's problematic client from the Middle East. Stewart did not balk at referring to the leaders of AIPAC as "the elders of Zion" nor at depicting Barack Obama in a blue-and-white suit ornamented with a Star of David.

On the day after the election, whether Obama is able to bring the Democrats back to power, or whether John McCain is successful in retaining the White House in the hands of the Republicans, the president-elect will be wearing a suit of stars and stripes. The American public and its leaders are not safely nestled in Israel's pocket. As the Iranian threat becomes more concrete, Israel will need more of their understanding and support. The Iranian nuclear program is too substantial a threat for it to serve as a tool in the hands of cynical Israeli politicians whose tongues wag too freely.
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Fighting fear
N.Y. mayor urges Jewish voters to denounce Obama Muslim rumors.
  1.   yes, and Iranian intelligence disinformation 08:46  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 16/06/08
  2.   AKIVA wake up! Many countries do NOT want a nuclear armed Iran 09:31  |  PETER SM 16/06/08
  3.   Have We Caved? 09:47  |  Yosemite 16/06/08
  4.   THE MODERATE KHATAMI WAS IGNORED BY ISRAEL IN 90-S 09:50  |  indrajaya 16/06/08
  5.   INDRAJAYA.Neither Ahmadinejad or Khatami represent Iranian voters 10:25  |  PETER SM 16/06/08
  6.   The great Jon Stewart, a mensch 10:30  |  Clickfool 16/06/08
  7.   # 5, PETER SM 10:42  |  indrajaya 16/06/08
  8.   The gods of old were logs of wood 10:58  |  Ramius 16/06/08
  9.   INDRAJAYA Repeat! It is none or the Persians business 10:58  |  PETER SM 16/06/08
  10.   For Peter SM # 2 11:02  |  Clickfool 16/06/08
  11.   no small thanks to haaretz 11:09  |  peter 16/06/08
  12.   you said it.... 11:17  |  ravi 16/06/08
  13.   Clickfool tries to appropriate Yiddish again 11:26  |  Ramius 16/06/08
  14.   If the world Jewish community had had a "fixation" on Nazi 11:31  |  Nahum 16/06/08
  15.   CFOOL.Wait! it ain`t over till its over.Meanwhile your prediction 11:33  |  PETER SM 16/06/08
  16.   RAVI actually the biggest source of Global trerror 11:37  |  PETER SM 16/06/08
  17.   # 9, PETER SM 11:37  |  indrajaya 16/06/08
  18.   Threats are threats 11:43  |  Nicole 16/06/08
  19.   #4 indrajaya 11:45  |  Axel 16/06/08
  20.   #4 indrajaya 11:45  |  Axel 16/06/08
  21.   self hating liberals 11:46  |  Gregor 16/06/08
  22.   For Ramius # 13 12:07  |  Clickfool 16/06/08
  23.   Question: why beg for US help? 12:13  |  taxpayer 16/06/08
  24.   INDRAJAYA It May be UN business but NOT Persian business. 12:16  |  PETER SM 16/06/08
  25.   # 19, AXEL 12:17  |  indrajaya 16/06/08
  26.   Germany`s `don`t make waves` Jews of the 30s are alive and well 12:31  |  Freethinker 16/06/08
  27.   INDRAJAYA Once more real slow.NOT for the Persians to negotiate 12:34  |  PETER SM 16/06/08
  28.   Does Israel care at all about the Jewish Diaspora...???? 12:38  |  Swiss (Dino) 16/06/08
  29.   TAX payer red herrings.1.You are not "fighting Israels wars" 12:56  |  PETER SM 16/06/08
  30.   You know when anti-Semitism is succeeding when .. 13:07  |  Gilad 16/06/08
  31.   Clickfool`s satisfaction 13:33  |  Sarah 16/06/08
  32.   # 27, PETER SM 13:44  |  indrajaya 16/06/08
  33.   arabist apologists, trolls and eurotrash 13:47  |  peter 16/06/08
  34.   #22 Clickful re:Ramius 13:47  |  Sarah 16/06/08
  35.   #23-taxpayer in a fog 13:52  |  peter 16/06/08
  36.   indrajaya 13:52  |  Soraya 16/06/08
  37.   Being paranoid doesn`t mean you`re not in danger. 13:56  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 16/06/08
  38.   # 36, SORAYA 14:11  |  indrajaya 16/06/08
  39.   peter sm`s confusion 14:11  |  taxpayer 16/06/08
  40.   No, Free"thinker", the Jews of the 1930s are not alive and well. 14:16  |  Nurit 16/06/08
  41.   peter #35 14:16  |  taxpayer 16/06/08
  42.   The problem is 14:19  |  Chris Linthwaite 16/06/08
  43.   The history of the Jewish people goes back a very long time, 14:21  |  Aqiva 16/06/08
  44.   The Christian right is the worst ally to have 14:22  |  Mark B. 16/06/08
  45.   # 44 "The Christian Right" 14:41  |  Sonya Hiller 16/06/08
  46.   World is hoping that Israel will solve Iran problem for them 14:59  |  Realist 16/06/08
  47.   # 4 Indy....your statement sounds somewhat 15:11  |  Lynn 16/06/08
  48.   Nurit, use of English is clearly not your strong point, 15:17  |  Freethinker 16/06/08
  49.   "TAXPAYER"S CONFUSION. 15:17  |  PETER SM 16/06/08
  50.   Thanks for the chuckle, Sarah # 31 15:30  |  Clickfool 16/06/08
  51.   MARK B Its the other way around,you are quite wrong 15:34  |  PETER SM 16/06/08
  52.   Put ice in your hat Israel, next year Iran´ll ´ve a new president 15:34  |  AliciaYasmeen 16/06/08
  53.   #25 indrajaya 15:36  |  Axel 16/06/08
  54.   How Israel can deal with the Iranian threat 15:39  |  Tosefta 16/06/08
  55.   #25 indrajaya 15:46  |  Alex 16/06/08
  56.   There Is Only One Way... 16:01  |  Yosemite 16/06/08
  57.   Nicole is not smart 16:03  |  noor 16/06/08
  58.   Israel wouldnt be pushing for war if the US was not supporting it 16:05  |  noor 16/06/08
  59.   The problem is big ideas in the minds of little brains 16:06  |  Ramius 16/06/08
  60.   For All Americans that support this possible war 16:09  |  noor 16/06/08
  61.   Eldar, the old shmatta, enables anti-Semitism 16:10  |  Maya 16/06/08
  62.   #44 Mark B. 16:28  |  Sarah 16/06/08
  63.   How Israel can deal with the Iranian threat 17:03  |  Tosefta 16/06/08
  64.   A Fireman`s Fixation on Putting Out FIres..... 17:08  |  ZADOK 16/06/08
  65.   16....peter sm.... wake up 17:15  |  ravi 16/06/08
  66.   # 46, ALEX 17:16  |  indrajaya 16/06/08
  67.   BALANCE OF TERROR 17:25  |  Soggy liberal 16/06/08
  68.   Sarah, check out Iraq alone 17:27  |  Mark B. 16/06/08
  69.   Does anyone know where Peter ( #33) is? 17:27  |  Saul 16/06/08
  70.   #47 Clickfool 17:28  |  Sarah