Last week’s “nuke deal” with Iran has drawn criticism both at home and overseas as being less of a “deal” and more of a capitulation to a belligerent enemy of freedom. (I wouldn’t argue with those criticisms one bit.) It has caused many to call into question President Obama’s motives for making such a deal, and forced discussions about what a nuclear Iran would mean for the future of the Middle East as we know it.
Of course, the elephant in the room is Israel, a country whose future depends on the efforts of more powerful allies to block Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon. Not only have we have failed to do so, we have also set Benjamin Netanyahu up as the chief fall guy in the event of a breakdown in negotiations.
CNN’s Jim Acosta interviewed Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday, and spent a lot of time focusing on the breakdown of the relationship between Israel and the United States.
In the interview, Netanyahu talked a lot about “legitimate differences of opinion,” and emphasized several times that Iran has proven itself to be distrustful. When pressed on the issue of whether or not he personally trusts the President, however, he hedged behind the blast of a necessary truth bomb:
“I trust that the president is doing what he thinks is good for the United States.”
It burns!
Watch:
“I think it’s not a question of personal trust… Of course we have a mutual, respectful relationship and I always respect both the Presidency of the United States and this President of the United States.“But as the prime minister of the one and only Jewish state, when I see a country, a terrorist regime committed to our destruction, and not only to our destruction, having a clear path to the bomb, it’s my obligation to speak out as I’m doing now, as I’ll do in any form.”
It was a fair and fundamental question. Acosta had every right to ask it, and I think Netanyahu handled it well. He may not have given a direct answer, but he did send a signal to the Administration and the American people: you have endangered my people, and we’re not going to take it lying down.
The deal is scandalous, and irresponsible; but the fact that it happened at all is a signal to the rest of the world that there could come a day, sooner rather than later, when Israel will have to stand without the support of her once-great ally.
For what it’s worth, I think Netanyahu has taken the hint.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY