Americans who watched Benjamin Netayahu's address to Congress yesterday got a clear and compelling heads-up about the real situation concerning Iran and its never-ending quest to develop nuclear weapons. And they got it from someone who has a lot more at stake than the pursuit of some piece of paper he hopes will salvage and otherwise dreadful foreign policy legacy.
Israel faces existential threats every day, and if Iran gets the bomb, those threats become considerably more dire. Netanyahu has dealt with this situation long enough to know that the Iranians can't be trusted to keep a good deal, and will go hog-wild if they convinced the U.S. and other nations to sign the horrendous deal that appears in the offing.
Point by point, the prime minister picked apart the thinking behind this proposed deal:
He shared the details of Iran's continued support for terrorism in the region, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. And end to this support should be an absolute minimal requirement for the pursuit of any deal - as should the end of all threats to eliminate Israel. But both the Israelis and the White House know that is not going to happen, yet it isn't stopping the Obama White House from pursuing the deal regardless.
Netanyahu laid out the evidence that Iran practices "hide and cheat" with respect to nuclear inspections. And he reminded us what we've learned in our dealings with other rogue nations: Inspectors chronicle violations. They don't stop them. Nothing short of aggressive action can do that, and Iran has no fear of that as long as it's dealing with the Obama Administration.
In this speech, Benjamin Netanyahu was directly addressing the American people. He needs us to understand the threat Iran represents to the world, because that's why not having a deal at all is better than a bad deal.
If you don't understand the case Netanyahu laid out, then you're not really paying attention. And that's exactly what Obama is counting on, which is why he was so furious that Netanyahu came and delivered this speech at all. All he wants is to sign a deal and wave a piece of paper. He doesn't want anyone questioning the wisdom of the deal. Thanks to Benjamin Netanyahu's clear and constructive presentation yesterday, people all across this nation will raise those questions.
Netanyahu ended the speech by invoking the call of Moses that we "be strong and resolute." Those words are compelling to everyone - except those who have already made up their minds to be weak and foolish.
