Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

1. During my recent trip to Israel, the two topics that were far and away the most discussed were Iran and Obama. Prime Minister Netanyahu's visit to Washington has focused much more international attention on those topics, as many people believe that the relations between Washington and Jerusalem will ultimately be defined by how the Iranian issue is handled.
Here are some varying views on the Iranian question.

On one side of the coin, there are the comments of Lawrence Korb that I noted yesterday, as well as this view from Leon Hadar published in Foreign Affairs. I disagree with his position, and if anything, think that he has reversed the process. Sanctions and diplomacy show no signs of working. In my opinion, the best way to make the Iranian proxies less of a threat is to deal a strong blow to their sponsor.

My view of the matter aligns much more closely with that expressed by Mordechai Kedar on Ynetnews.com. As well, if you had been as fortunate as I to have heard retired IDF Brigadier-General Yossi Kupperwasser speak at the BESA conference I attended at Bar-Ilan University, you would likely agree with a very strong stance toward Iran.



(Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, former Head of Research and Assessment, IDF Military Intelligence - also of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)



(outside the JCPA in Jerusalem)

2. Iran continues to talk its threatening talk - apart from the usual threats from Ahmadinejad, there is this new outrageous comment from the leader of the Iranian military. Haven't heard if there are any comments from the Obama Administration, the UN or the EU criticizing such a blatant threat against a sovereign nation, but I am not holding my breath.

3. Still on the subject of Iran, there is this piece from the Wall Street Journal about the recent efforts of the Israeli intelligence community - though as noted, it won't be enough on its own to make a difference.

4. On the subject of the US-Israel dynamic, this column from the Financial Times is an interesting piece, as is this column from the Jerusalem Post.

5. Speaking of Iran and its proxies, I'm wondering if the guys behind this attack are in the Hamas doghouse. Like the title of the article says, this wins today's bad timing award - as has often been said of the Palestinian leadership, "...they never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity."

6. And on the lighter side - things are well in "Bayit David" this evening for my son as Detroit won Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals by beating Chicago 3-2 in overtime. Please do not ask me about my Montreal Canadiens.

That's all for today!