The six-power agreement with Iran is the most grievous capitulation since Munich.
By JERUSALEM POST READERSLetters 370(photo credit: REUTERS/Handout )
Sir, – The six-power agreement with Iran is the most grievous capitulation since Munich (“PM: Today the world is a more dangerous place,” November 25).No Czech representative was present at Munich when Chamberlain and Hitler divided that country and undermined any chance that Czechoslovakia would be able to effectively defend itself against German panzers. In similar fashion, Israel, the country most affected by Iranian threats, was not invited to the talks in Geneva. As a result, Iran has been given carte blanche to surreptitiously arm itself with nuclear weapons.One wonders why US President Barack Obama felt it was necessary to capitulate at this point, when Iran was really feeling the pinch of sanctions. In the aftermath of Munich, Winston Churchill said of Chamberlain: “He has a lust for peace. He was given the choice between war and dishonor. He chose dishonor and he will have war anyway.”Will history be compelled to repeat itself?DAVID ROTHNER Beit Shemesh Sir, – The deal is a bad deal as most predicted with, of course, the exception being Obama and the Western elements of the P5+1 negotiators.Now comes the pretense of trying to sell such a deal as “being good” for us, not to mention a “small” release of sanctions allowing Iran to continue to finance terror around the globe. Anyone who could not see this coming had their head in the wrong place. The “axis of the weak” has prevailed again. Nobel Peace Prizes will be in the offing and showered like “snowflakes” settling on self-congratulatory egos, with the French displaying their “Vichy” predictability.For Iran and some of the negotiating Western countries, Israel remains the dispensable inconvenience it always was, and to be rid of us would be perceived as a blessing and a step towards “peace in our time.”The moment of reckoning is here: Will Netanyahu “mean what he says and say what he means” and go it alone?I. KEMP Nahariya
Sir, – While I fully agree with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that the world is now a more dangerous place after this agreement with Iran, I am in no way worried about Israel’s security when Iran finally goes nuclear.As an Israeli citizen I am confident that our intelligence services will be “in the know” should any attack be forthcoming and our defense forces will be in a position to thwart and prevent any such offensive action.I wonder, however, if citizens of other countries around the world can be similarly unwavering in their reliance on their security services?DAVID S. ADDLEMAN Mevaseret Zion Sir, – Shortly before the Polish campaign which started World War II, Hitler remarked to his anxious generals: “Our enemies are little worms. I saw them at Munich.”Can there be any doubt that this is precisely the thought going through the minds of the Iranian mullahs, following the feckless display by the United States and its partners at Geneva?IRVING WIESEN Jerusalem Sir, – The die has been cast.Under the leadership of President Obama an agreement has been reached with Iran. I am reminded of the biblical story of King Saul. When the king first entered office there were high hopes he would be a true savior of the Jewish people. He seemed to have all the qualifications for the type of leadership that was needed to secure the future of the Jewish people.King Saul’s failure was that he was unable to complete a task properly, so at a critical period in Jewish history he hesitated. That hesitation changed the course of Jewish history. The King tried to correct his error, but by then it was to late and the enemies of the Jews were allowed to live on.President Obama is not a true world leader. His personality is such that, like King Saul, he can not make critical decisions. He had Iran on the ropes and he let them get away. I am afraid that our children and grandchildren will have to pay the price for his folly.PAUL BERMAN Shoham Sir, – One of the most interesting fallouts of the Iran deal is the fact that we now know the United States has been secretly dealing with Iran for months. All the while President Obama has been leading Prime Minister Netanyahu to dance around his maypole, he has been planning his moves with Iran.It now is so apparent to the whole world that the president of the United States is not a trustworthy person. Saudi Arabia realized this sooner than Israel and therefore came out with just that statement. Israel had to learn this fact the hard way. Israel has been blackmailed into negotiations with Palestinians at the price of peace with Iran and the nuclear bomb hanging as the sword of Damocles hanging over her head.This should be a permanent lesson for Israel and the world.No country is a true friend. The UN Security Council doesn`t exist except to demonstratively penalize Israel as much as they hate Israel. The world really has no order, no principles and in the end Israel can only fend for itself.What will happen in six months times? Only God knows.TOBY WILLIG JerusalemSir, – It sounds to me like the only thing this “interim” deal accomplished was to prevent a possible “Persian Spring” that might have toppled the mullahs had the sanctions stayed in place. Perhaps this was the race against time that the mullahs were really engaged in: heading off a revolution before their nuclear weapons were developed.Indeed, all the West may have done was help the Iranian regime succeed on both fronts: avoiding a revolt while keeping its nuclear program in place... a program the mullahs will continue when the agreement runs out in six months.RICHARD REAY Riverdale, New York Contentious claim Sir, – In his op-ed piece Lenny Ben-David makes reference to the sale of AWACS by the Reagan administration as a contentious issue in US-Israel relations (“Chill out! Relations between the US and Israel are certainly not in a state of crisis,” Comment and Features, November 25).According to Mr. Ben-David, the AWACS were sold to Iran.This claim is not correct. The Reagan administration sold the AWACS to Saudi Arabia.Given the current political climate, and its insufferable delusions, it behooves you to make the correction.AVI BERKOWITZ EfratLarge lacuna Sir, – In lauding Isaac ‘ Buji’ Herzog, while in the process, managing to denigrate his opponent Shelly Yacimovich, (“ ..her autocratic, limelight-hugging leadership style”), Jeff Barak somehow manages to leave a rather large lacuna in describing Buji (“Popular culture trumps real news,” Reality Check, Comment and Features, November 25).Among his many virtues, Barak notes that “he is a serious, devoted politician who has proved himself in every ministerial role he has held, etc. etc.However, like all the other laudatory comments on his victory and character by The Jerusalem Post pundits, there is absolutely no mention of Herzog’s egregious failure to testify regarding Ehud Barak’s funding of his election campaign. In America we called that “pleading the fifth (amendment),” refusing to testify on the grounds that it might incriminate oneself.Oh well, Liberman, Deri, Olmert, et al aren’t any better, are they, so who really cares?MARCHAL KAPLAN Jerusalem
