Stop
the Hypocrisy of Nuclear Threats
Raphael
Sassower
As Congress is about to review the deal made with Iran to
lift international sanctions against it in exchange for slowing its nuclear
ambitions, the specter of Israel’s survival has been brought up. Israel’s Prime
Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has inserted himself into the American debate as
if he were a member of Congress or at least a presidential candidate on the
absurd level of a Donald Trump. Sensationalizing the threat to Israel,
Netanyahu and some Republicans have argued against tipping the delicate balance
of powers in the Middle East.
A few relevant facts must be recalled to set the stage for
a rational (rather than hysterical) assessment of the deal. First, Israel isn’t
party to the treaty with Iran, so why is its prime minister inserting himself
into the debate? Second, if Israel will be affected, does its concerns
overshadow those of all other nations in the region? How come they don’t
intervene in American domestic politics? Third, since the treaty was signed by
the UK, France, Germany, China, and Russia (in addition to the US), why only
protest in the American media? Has Israel lost all credibility in the rest of
the world? Fourth, if nuclear threat is at issue, have we all forgotten the open
secret that Israel has nuclear capabilities and, according to some, nuclear
weapons? The balance right now is wholly skewed in favor of Israel as compared
to other nations in the region. Fifth, and related to the fourth point, Israel
is also the only known nuclear power in the world that has not signed the
international non-proliferation treaty—is this because a signature would be an
admission of having nuclear weapons, or is it because American might protects
it from international accountability.
The hypocrisy of demanding nuclear supervision of Iran but
not of Israel is clear. For the longest time Israel has demanded to be
considered beyond any moral reproach—and therefore its own hypocrisy couldn’t
be mentioned in polite company—because of its designation as the homeland of
the Jews, especially in light of the shameful international response to Nazi
Germany’s extermination of the Jews during WWII. But we are no longer in 1945
(the end of the war) or 1948 (the establishment of the State of Israel). Israel
is a military powerhouse that exports more weaponry than oranges, and has been
able to conquer large territories of its neighbors in the Six Days’ War of
1967. As an occupying military force, it has behaved immorally (and many times
in full violation of international law) towards its Palestinian wards. It’s
hypocritical to demand moral authority only in the case of Iran, but display
moral indifference about one’s own conduct in the occupied territories.
Even if Iran’s nuclear ambitions are neutralized for only a
decade or two, it’s a far better solution to a nuclear arms’ race in the
region. And how heart-warming to see Russia, China, and the US on the same side
of the table with aligned interests in the region.
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