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For Netanyahu and Israel, an Existential Moment
(U.S. News) Mortimer B. Zuckerman - A man fearing for his life calls 911. He is roundly rebuked, told to call again because he didn't say "please" nicely. This is roughly where we are in the serial denunciation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for daring to speak to a joint session of Congress about the mortal threat he sees looming for his country. Isn't a prime minister right to be very concerned about a sworn enemy dedicated, given half a chance, to destroying the fabric of the nation he has a sacred duty to protect? Survival, not protocol, is the issue of the hour. "The U.S. has gone a long way" toward accepting Iran's position on nuclear negotiations, David Albright, head of the Institute for Science and International Security, told the Wall Street Journal. The agreement, if indeed it is signed, would allow Iran to become a threshold nuclear state and with the consent of the major powers. No wonder the Israelis are alarmed to see the U.S. come so far from its promises that Iran would never be allowed a bomb. The Obama administration has described Iran as the greatest threat to world peace and has made many promises over the last six years on Iran, not to mention pledges to Israel, which stands to lose the most. Unfortunately, too many of these statements have taken on a hollow ring, leaving Netanyahu alone to make his country's case to Congress and, if regretfully necessary, to defend it against Iran.