There is no denying that Netanyahu has put the Iranian nuclear program high on the international agenda.
By DOUGLAS M. BLOOMFIELDNetanyahu bomb picture 370(photo credit: REUTERS/Lucas Jackson)
Whatever you may think of Binyamin Netanyahu, and very few people are neutral on the subject, there is no denying that though often abrasive and irritating, he has put the Iranian nuclear program high on the international agenda.Without his stubborn nudging it is fair to assume the intensity of international pressure on the Islamic Republic would be far weaker than it is today.While Netanyahu generated the motivation, he was incapable of mobilizing the needed pressure. That job fell to Barack Obama. While the two agreed Iran should not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon, they often disagreed on how to achieve that goal.But Netanyahu’s relentless focus on Iran may be as much about deflecting attention from an Israeli-Palestinian peace process he badly wants to postpone indefinitely as fears an Iranian bomb could threaten Israel’s existence.Netanyahu’s brinkmanship and meddling in the American elections won him no friends in the White House, where the mistrust between the two leaders obscured the fact that more unites than divides them on this issue. Obama’s critics question his commitment but much of that is politically motivated. For better or worse, the president has firmly committed himself, publicly and privately, to do “whatever it takes” to prevent Iran from acquiring a bomb and he insists that containment is not acceptable.Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic has compiled a long list of “Obama’s crystal clear promises” that should satisfy all but the hardcore Obama haters.The fear that Netanyahu would willingly go to war to stop, or even slow down the Iranian quest for nuclear weapons – the Iranians deny they’re working on a bomb, but few believe them – has galvanized world attention.Netanyahu’s Wyle E. Coyote cartoon bomb may have been a juvenile publicity stunt, but it dominated global news coverage of the annual UN General Assembly meeting. He used that platform to reveal he would not launch a unilateral attack before the American election and would give the sanctions until mid-2013 to produce results.Netanyahu’s ratcheting up the issue in recent months was widely seen as a transparent attempt to influence the American presidential election in light of his reputation as a serial meddler in US politics. But as his preferred candidate, Mitt Romney, began lagging farther and farther behind, and President Obama, who doesn’t care much for Netanyahu (the feeling is mutual), began gaining, the prime minister decided to make some shalom before the election – just in case.He is reportedly planning to call new elections in Israel for early next year and his chance of reelection look pretty good right now. Netanyahu knows two things: a prime minister with a reputation for being unable to work well with Israel’s most important ally does not sit well with Israeli voters, and Obama is very likely to be around for another four years.
