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| Nasrallah and Khameni (2013) - Is Islamic rule the world's destiny? |
Those who have a visceral hatred for the Netanyahu will surely
accuse him of being a political opportunist who is shamelessly exploiting this invitation
for his own political benefit. Being invited by the legislators of the most
powerful nation on earth to address them on one of the most important issues of
our day will surly boost his prestige among voters in Israel. And that is reason - they will cynically say - that Netanyahu is really doing this. And to top it off he is slapping the President in
the face by accepting this invitation.
One unidentified member of the White House staff
characterized Netanyahu just that way – and even threatened consequences. The
White House has repudiated that as untrue and not their actual view. But
President is still refusing to meet with him – citing a historical precedent of
never inviting leaders of foreign countries just before an election there.
I am not a Netanyhau hater. I actually agree with the majority
of the Israeli people about him. Recent polls show that his party,the
Likud, will handily win the next election
making his re-election as prime minister assured. Which will also make him the
longest serving prime minister in Israel’s history. (It should also be clear
that people who vote for Likud are doing it mostly because they want to see
Netanyahu returned to office.)
So if I were a Netanyahu hater, I would rethink my attitude about
him. Whatever complaints and criticism of him one may have, they apparently do
not match the view of the people that will actually return him to office. This is not to say that his policies can’t be
criticized. But it should mean that the visceral hatred is misplaced. Maybe…
just maybe the Israeli people might be a little closer to the situation and are
voting accordingly.
I also think the so-called enmity between the 2 leaders is
over-blown. Sure, there are some fundamental disagreements between them. But
that should not necessarily mean that they hate each other. And I don’t think
they actually do hate each other. But that is somewhat beside the point.
The question is, do Speaker Boehner and Prime Minster
Netanyahu deserve the criticism they are getting from some quarters? My answer
is absolutely not.
There are 3 separate but equal branches of government. The
legislative branch does not need permission from the executive branch. They can
invite anyone they wish to address their august body. The Executive branch does
not have a say here. Nor do I blame Netanyahu for accepting the invitation. As
he said, he will speak anywhere he invited any time about his view of dealing
with the nuclear threat presented by Iran.
While one can disagree with his perspective, one cannot say
that it has no merit. No country has more to lose by a nuclear Iran than Israel
does. And the US has nothing to gain by it either. A nuclear Iran would destabilize
the entire Middle East which would probably cause other Arab nations to go
nuclear. That would endanger the entire world.
And we all know that Iran wants to wipe Israel off the map
by any means necessary. A nuclear weapon in Iran’s hands would certainly go a
long way towards that. So if anyone has
a dog in this hunt, it’s Israel. And because they do, they may very well have
the best intelligence on the matter. So addressing the legislators of the most
powerful nation in the world should be something sought after, not criticized,
or snubbed. Instead of snubbing Netanyahu, the President ought to be seeking
his counsel – even if in the end he doesn’t agree with him.
The excuse about not wanting to influence the Israeli
election is just that - an excuse. But even if his reason was legitimate, hearing Netanyahu’s
views should over-ride it. The leader of a country whose very existence is at
stake should Iran go nuclear ought not to be snubbed about this matter. He
should have over-looked the fact that he was not consulted and taken the
opportunity to meet with his closest ally in the Middle East. So I am
disappointed in him.
Less than 2 weeks ago
we saw Islamic extremists murder 17 people. Today we witnessed yet against
another beheading of an innocent man by ISIS (or ISIL or IS… or whatever they
call themselves now). It’s time for the leader of the free world recognize that
Islamic fundamentalist extremism is behind all of this. And Iran is a
government led by fundamentalists that celebrate such extremists. And export it. And finance it.
This
isn’t about Al Qaida, or ISIS or any other single group. It is about an
ideology that supports and promotes the idea of Islam ruling the world. And
Iran is their model. The only dispute among them is which form of Isalm will
rule, but either way, it should be Islam. Until the US and the rest of the
world recognize this and acts accordingly, things will only get worse.
