They say that this election is not about issues but a
referendum on Bibi.
But issues do matter and in my mind there is only one issue to
which all other issues are dependent on. Israel has to protect itself from an
Iranian nuclear attack. The issues of education, housing and corruption would be irrelevant in the rubble
after a nuclear exchange.
Iran hardly figured in the pre-election
discussion. So it is not the obvious “Bibi fatigue” that is prevalent but the “Iranian
nuclear threat fatigue” that dominates. However, Iran has not vanished and we were
just reminded of it by president Trump last night when he designated
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a foreign terrorist group. Isn’t it odd that the
US is more concerned about Iran than Israel?
Out of the 4 leaders of Blue and White, Lapid and Gantz
supported Obama's deal which was a disaster. Ya'alon changed his mind and now
says that at this point, and in the foreseeable future, there is no existential
threat facing Israel. Gabi Ashkenazi
along with Meir Dagan prevented Bibi and Barak from attacking Iranian nuclear
sites in 2010. Then the breakout time was 6 months, now it is 3 months. By the
time the Iran Deal expires the breakout time will be 0.
So the referendum should be on the person who is best prepared
to preempt Iran if Iran goes for breakout. The leader(s) who prevented Netanyahu in 2010 from
attacking the Iranian nuclear sites, or Netanyahu who already proved that he
can make a decision of this importance? Take your pick. I have.
Why is it so crucial to stop Iran from ever getting the
bomb? Norman Podhoretz explains:
“Now I will give you my answer to this. That's' Bernard's
answer to the question. My answer to
the question is to imagine a scenario which most people are horrified. I've
tried this in speeches all the time, people shy away from it. Imagine that Iran
gets the bomb. OK and the Israelis are sitting there and asking themselves, do we wait for them to hit us and
then retaliate out of the rubble or do we preempt it first? The Iranians are asking themselves the same
question. Do we wait for the Israelis to hit us or do we hit them first. We've
never had a hair trigger situation like that since the invention of nuclear
weapons. If you just imagine the rulers of Iran asking themselves that question. Somebody is gonna beat the
other to the punch. And I can't see that unstable situation lasting for very
long, maybe even as along as a few weeks or months”