(Times of Israel) David Horovitz - The Israeli political and security leadership is privately horrified by President Obama's 11th-hour turnaround on striking Syria. It is profoundly concerned that the president has set a precedent that may complicate, delay or even rule out credible action to thwart Iran's drive to nuclear weapons. Obama has given Assad more time to ensure that any eventual strike causes a minimum of damage, and to claim initial victory in facing down the U.S. At the very least, too, Obama has led the Iranians to believe that presidential promises to prevent them attaining nuclear weapons need not necessarily be taken at face value. If a formidable U.S. strike does ultimately come, some of that damage can yet be undone, the Israeli leadership believes. If there is no strike, the U.S. - hitherto Israel's only dependable military ally - will be definitively perceived in the region as a paper tiger, with dire implications for its regional interests and for Israel.
2013-09-02 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive