Iran’s obliteration threat
Ever the bully, Iran, knowing that a full-scale war between Israel and Lebanon is imminent, has made the ultimate threat in a last-ditch attempt to prevent the inevitable conflict, which could finally put an end to the daily rockets and drone attacks Israel has been experiencing for months.
Warning that we will be obliterated if we dare to “embark upon a military ground campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon,” their strategy is to frighten the Jewish state with the thought of finishing her off.
But what is the alternative? If Israel does not do what any sovereign nation must – by defending its people, then the country will continue to suffer an unending terror campaign, designed to demoralize the nation, ghettoize citizens, by pushing them more and more into one central area and then go in for the kill. How is that scenario better than Iran’s obliteration possibility? Either way, the goal is focused towards Israel’s “final solution.”
There is no question that pitting Israel against the well-armed countries of Iran and Lebanon, along with whatever arsenal is left to Hamas, in the south, is a daunting and fearsome existential concern, but if the choice is left between a slow and painful death by a million cuts and a swift conflict, which certainly has the capacity to bring about many Israeli casualties, but in the end, will remove the northern threat, why would we go for the torment and agony of being decimated little by little?
The time has come for Israel, and the nations of the world, to decide if they are better off without a Jewish homeland, because that is, more or less, what it’s come down to. The last time the threat was made, was at midnight of April 13th when an estimated 170 drones and 30 cruise missiles and 120 ballistic missiles were launched in the direction of Israel. No one knew what to expect, but, in the end, American, French, British and Jordanian air forces joined in the fight, sending the message that Israel is worth saving.
The question is, will they, yet again, come to the rescue or is this the battle which Israel must go it alone – without any intervening assistance?
In the Jerusalem Post article entitled, “Can Israel map out a strategy to flip the multi-pronged Iranian threat?” writer Yonah Jeremy Bob indicates that everyone is in “reactive stuck mode,” waiting to see what move Iran makes. And this is apparently their modus operandi. Keep everyone tense, shaking in their boots at the thought of the all-powerful Iranian regime releasing its full might on anyone who thinks of retaliating against their proxy Hezbollah puppets.
Consequently, the suggestion has been made by Middle East scholar, Barak Seener that “Israel and the U.S., together with their allies, attack Iran directly with a long list of targets: their military basis, their drone and missile facilities, their oil infrastructure, hydrocarbon export ports and other sensitive areas.” By doing so, the magnitude of such a strike will cripple them and ensure that they are defanged. It would also serve as a deterrent for Lebanon to go it alone in its plan to cause significant damage to major Israeli cities and our own sensitive sites.
The idea certainly has merit but would likely only be successful if a number of countries partnered together to bring down the world’s greatest bully who will stop at nothing to intimidate its enemies, until those enemies band together to put an end to their menacing threats. The world can no longer be indefinitely pushed around by the immoral and tyrannical mullahs who have held their own people captive for nearly five decades – a population which is said to be extremely pro-Israel.
It is not with those people that Israel wants a fight, but rather with the extremist Islamic Republic leaders who overthrew the Persian monarchy in 1979 and have since ruled with an iron fist, controlled by their “Supreme Leader,” whose Shi’ite doctrines have sought to dominate the Arab world, combatting any Sunni influence in the region.
While some hope for a diplomatic solution or the imposition of sanctions, neither is realistic in stopping a bully from throwing around his weight and intimidating those he perceives are weaker. Such a tyrant must feel the heavy consequences of his own folly, and that can only happen when countries unite together to take down the oppressor who thinks he can get away with terrorizing others.
The time has come for nations of the world to realize that this threat is not going to magically disappear. The world is already embroiled in a conflict with the goal of dominating all others who refuse to bow down to extreme Islam. It is a war which cannot be avoided or appeased away. To not act now is to prolong the threat hanging in front of free and democratic nations. Why choose that path?
Iran has already proven that they are willing to attack Israel. What they, perhaps, didn’t expect was an alliance of other forces that took out their capabilities, showing that solidarity is more powerful in the end. And this is why something needs to be done now before everyone is left with no alternative but to simply “respond” to whatever Iran chooses to do. Given Iran’s nuclear possibilities, it is all the more reason that their capabilities need to be degraded without further delay, and they need to be removed from being in the driver’s seat.
Whether or not other nations come to Israel’s defense, we must act in accordance with our own best interests, and being threatened with elimination by Iran cannot be the reason we capitulate and hold back from the long-awaited attack that must be waged in order to restore our northern communities to their previously peaceful and prosperous condition.
For those surrounding Arab countries, who also fear Iran, knowing the threat they also pose to them, they might want to seriously consider joining forces with the only democracy in the Middle East who longs to enjoy warm diplomatic relations with these more moderate nations who value an open economy, human dignity and rights as well as respect and tolerance for the differences of others, all ideals which are embodied in the Abraham Accords.
Each day brings us a little closer to this inevitable showdown which must be enacted. Having the help of our neighbors would be a great benefit, but if they choose to sit this round out, we still remain confident that our greatest asset, God, Almighty won’t. Because, in the end, the battle is really His and not ours!
A former Jerusalem elementary and middle-school principal and the granddaughter of European Jews who arrived in the US before the Holocaust. Making Aliyah in 1993, she became a member of Kibbutz Reim but now lives in the center of the country with her husband.