Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is notorious, at least locally, for avoiding conflict. Despite what his international critics, and Israel’s enemies, say, he is no “warmonger”; in fact, many Israelis fault him for avoiding war until it is inevitable, as was the case after October 7.
But Netanyahu is reaching the point where he will attack Iran’s nuclear sides — and, ironically, it is President Donald Trump who is pushing him there. That might seem odd, given that Trump has been more supportive of Israel than any other U.S. president. Since returning to office, Trump has undone President Joe Biden’s destructive policies, most recently ending the Office of Palestinian Affairs, which was run by the Biden administration as a sort of parallel diplomatic arm, and which had the audacity to tell Israel to “refrain from violence and retaliatory attacks” after October 7. Trump has also restored weapons supplies to Israel, and canceled Biden’s sanctions on Israeli settlers.
But Trump is now pursuing a new nuclear deal with Iran, and early reports suggest that it will have many, if not all, of the same features that made President Barack Obama’s Iran deal such a failure. The reports suggest Iran might keep its nuclear enrichment infrastructure, after supposedly stopping enrichment. There are also no clear agreements yet to stop Iranian sponsorship of foreign terror groups, or its ballistic missile program. (Read More)
