THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF?

 

Netanyahu addressing Congress 3 March 2015
http://pixel.nymag.com/imgs/daily/intelligencer/2015/03/03/03-netanyahu-speech3.w529.h352.2x.jpg

 

Netanyahu has given his speech to the Congress and now only history will determine if it will have any effect on the fate of Israel or the world as a whole. We have never had any doubt about Netanyahu’s ability as an orator. He delivered his speech with clear and deliberate confidence and received much support from his Congressional audience, Republican and Democrat alike. President Obama made a point of not watching the speech but we can be sure he heard or read every word. But, will Netanyahu’s speech make any difference? Only time will tell.

The full text of Netanyahu's speech is worthy of our close attention and can be seen on http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4633143,00.html.

Netanyahu began his speech warning that,

“Iran's regime is not merely a Jewish problem, any more than the Nazi regime was merely a Jewish problem. The 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis were but a fraction of the 60 million people killed in World War II. So, too, Iran's regime poses a grave threat, not only to Israel, but also the peace of the entire world. To understand just how dangerous Iran would be with nuclear weapons, we must fully understand the nature of the regime”.

He went on to point out that we must not think that Iran is in any way an ally just because it is also fighting the Islamic State (IS or ISIS).

Don't be fooled. The battle between Iran and ISIS doesn't turn Iran into a friend of America.Iran and ISIS are competing for the crown of militant Islam. One calls itself the Islamic Republic. The other calls itself the Islamic State. Both want to impose a militant Islamic empire first on the region and then on the entire world. They just disagree among themselves who will be the ruler of that empire.

In 1979 Iran was ‘hijacked by religious zealots’ who imposed a dictatorship on the people based on a strict and brutal new constitution based on Shariya Law, and the ideological imperative of Jihad. Backed by Iran, Hezbollah controls Damascus, President Assad of Syria slaughters his own people, and the Houthis, who last September took control of Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, which controls the strategic entrance to the Red Sea through which most of the world’s oil must pass. Even as the USA and Iran are negotiating the current deal, Iran carried out a military exercise blowing up a mock US aircraft carrier. Given Teheran’s aggressive and threatening position, one must ask, why is the USA so determined to negotiate with this regime, which has clearly and repeatedly threatened to destroy the ‘little Satan’ (Israel) and then the ‘big Satan’ the USA? Netanyahu put it this way;

In the Middle East, Iran now dominates four Arab capitals, Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut and Sanaa. And if Iran's aggression is left unchecked, more will surely follow.

Beyond the Middle East, Iran attacks America and its allies through its global terror network. It blew up the Jewish community center and the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires. It helped Al Qaida bomb US embassies in Africa. It even attempted to assassinate the Saudi ambassador, right here in Washington, DC…

So when it comes to Iran and ISIS, the enemy of your enemy is your enemy.

The difference is that ISIS is armed with butcher knives, captured weapons and YouTube, whereas Iran could soon be armed with intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear bombs. We must always remember - I'll say it one more time - the greatest dangers facing our world is the marriage of militant Islam with nuclear weapons. To defeat ISIS and let Iran get nuclear weapons would be to win the battle, but lose the war. We can't let that happen.

Prime Minister Netanyahu then went on to expose the flaws in the current proposed deal, due to be signed at the end of this month. First the deal does not require Iran to destroy its nuclear facilities. He said that,

According to the deal, not a single nuclear facility would be demolished. Thousands of centrifuges used to enrich uranium would be left spinning. Thousands more would be temporarily disconnected, but not destroyed.

Iran currently has 19,000 centrifuges spinning busily away enriching uranium and plans to build 10 times that number. Enriched uranium is not needed for peaceful nuclear purposes such as power generation or medical use. If Iran is not intending to develop military nuclear capability, as it claims, then why is it enriching uranium at all? 

Under the proposed deal, Iran’s nuclear program would be under the watchful eye of international inspectors, but as Netanyahu said, “… inspectors document violations; they don't stop them”. What is more, Iran has proven in the past that it is well able to conceal its activities.  Netanyahu put it this way:

…but Iran not only defies inspectors, it also plays a pretty good game of hide-and-cheat with them.

The UN's nuclear watchdog agency, the IAEA, said again yesterday that Iran still refuses to come clean about its military nuclear program. Iran was also caught - caught twice, not once, twice - operating secret nuclear facilities in Natanz and Qom, facilities that inspectors didn't even know existed.

Right now, Iran could be hiding nuclear facilities that we don't know about, the US and Israel. As the former head of inspections for the IAEA said in 2013, he said, "If there's no undeclared installation today in Iran, it will be the first time in 20 years that it doesn't have one." Iran has proven time and again that it cannot be trusted

A second concern is the fact that the restrictions on Iran under the proposed deal would automatically expire after 10 years. John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, confirmed last week that Iran could possess massive centrifuge capacity by the time the deal expires. This means they could be producing nuclear weapons within a very short time, less than a year according to US estimates, but possibly even much, much faster.

Netanyahu thus expressed his concern that this deal would not prevent Iran from making nuclear weapons, but rather would ensure that it did. He said,

Now I want you to think about that. The foremost sponsor of global terrorism could be weeks away from having enough enriched uranium for an entire arsenal of nuclear weapons and this with full international legitimacy.

And by the way, if Iran's Intercontinental Ballistic Missile program is not part of the deal, and so far, Iran refuses to even put it on the negotiating table. Well, Iran could have the means to deliver that nuclear arsenal to the far-reach corners of the earth, including to every part of the United States.

So one must ask, why is the USA so determined to sign this deal with Iran? It seems to me that it is predicated on the belief that by the time the 10 years have passed Iran’s regime will have been replaced by a more moderate one. However that seems to be something of a pipe dream. The regime has stood for 36 years now and is stronger than ever. The only time any cracks appeared were some demonstrations during the time when strict economic sanctions were being applied, but those sanctions have been eroded, and under the proposed deal will be eased considerably, and the opposition quashed.

Iran on the other hand is willing to sign the deal only so that the sanctions will be eased, making it possible to fund its nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile program, its support of terrorist groups around the world, and its expansionist policies.

Netanyahu’s speech has prompted an fairly predictable outburst of criticism both at home and abroad. One of the criticisms is that he did not say anything new. And that is true. He has been saying the same thing over and over and over for years, but the shocking thing is the apathy of the free world and its dogged refusal to listen. It seems we are suffering from “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” syndrome.  However if you remember the story, the people grew so tired of hearing the boy crying ‘wolf’ that they stopped listening and even stopped believing in the wolf. However the wolf was still there and one day he came and ate all the people. I hope we will not suffer the same fate!

Others, President Obama included, criticized his speech claiming that he did not make any valid or workable alternative proposal. This is simply not true. Netanyahu declared  that no deal is a better option than a bad deal, and he also put forward a suggestion for a better deal:

Now we're being told that the only alternative to this bad deal is war. That's just not true.

The alternative to this bad deal is a much better deal.

We can insist that restrictions on Iran's nuclear program not be lifted for as long as Iran continues its aggression in the region and in the world.

Before lifting those restrictions, the world should demand that Iran do three things:

First, stop its aggression against its neighbors in the Middle East.

Second, stop supporting terrorism around the world.

And third, stop threatening to annihilate my country, Israel, the one and only Jewish state.

If Iran changes its behavior, the restrictions would be lifted. If Iran doesn't change its behavior, the restrictions should not be lifted…

Netanyahu summed up his position by saying,

Ladies and gentlemen, history has placed us at a fateful crossroads. We must now choose between two paths. One path leads to a bad deal that will at best curtail Iran's nuclear ambitions for a while, but it will inexorably lead to a nuclear-armed Iran whose unbridled aggression will inevitably lead to war.

The second path, however difficult, could lead to a much better deal, that would prevent a nuclear-armed Iran, a nuclearized Middle East and the horrific consequences of both to all of humanity.

It is interesting to note that this speech was delivered to Congress on the eve of the Fast of Esther which precedes the Feast of Purim, in which Jews have for centuries remembered another occasion when a ruler in Persia (modern day Iran) sought to annihilate the Jews (see the Book of Esther). All over Israel and in every Jewish synagogue throughout the world, the book of Ester was read aloud. Children and adults alike celebrated by dressing in costumes, and by giving gifts to each other and to the poor. It is a happy occasion and a reminder than one person and their words can make a difference. The courageous words of Esther saved the Jews throughout the Persian Empire from annihilation. Esther’s uncle, Mordecai, said this to her:

Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Esther 4: 13-14.

 

Celebrating Purim in Netanya
http://www.timesofisrael.com/nation-plays-dress-up-to-celebrate-purim-holiday/

 

Time and time again, throughout history, enemies have risen up with the intention of destroying Israel. But they have never succeeded! And here we stand: a tiny nation in a vast sea of enemies. In spite of all the threats against us, we are confident in our God, who has promised to keep and restore us in this land. His word is true and will stand. He who is with us is greater than any enemy.

But what is our part? Is it to remain silent or is it to speak out? We must each search our hearts and see what we must do in these perilous days, and be careful to be found working with God to bring about his redemption and not against Him, and his chosen people.