Getting it backwards

Iran and Annapolis -Editorial

The idea that brokering an Arab-Israeli peace would be a setback for Iran is a valid one. An end to the century-long Arab campaign to prevent Israel's founding and seek its destruction would indeed be a tremendous feather in the West's cap and a major defeat for the jihadi camp. It should go without saying that this is the dream of the Israeli people and of every Israeli leader.

There is a problem, however, with the American theory: It suffers from a high degree of circularity. Essentially, it proposes that fear of Iran is producing an opportunity... If anything, the arrow of causality points much more strongly in the other direction: Arab-Israeli peace depends on preventing the current Iranian regime from becoming a nuclear power.

This is so because if that regime is allowed to go nuclear, all of the most radical forces in the region - from Hizbullah to Hamas to al-Qaida - will suddenly enjoy a tailwind from Teheran. For the first time, the world's most dangerous terrorist regimes will have their own nuclear umbrella. The opportunity that the US has identified will instead be brought to a close, as Arab regimes are forced to accommodate Iran rather than the US.

Accordingly, the idea of setting a deadline for wrapping up an agreement between Israelis and Palestinians is missing something as important: a deadline for turning back the Iranian threat.
[Jerusalem Post]