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Strategic Challenges in a Changing Middle East ()

[Washington Institute for Near East Policy] Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Moshe Yaalon - Former IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon told the Washington Institute on Tuesday: The media frames the Iranian issue as if a combination of a sincere dialogue and non-military sanctions will peacefully persuade the Iranians to give up their military nuclear program. This mistaken assumption is based primarily on wishful thinking. The media approaches this issue with the assumption that Iran is a rational actor, very much like Western states. The alternative view suggests that the Iranians have a completely different agenda and set of motivating factors. For example, many key Iranian players, in particular the Mullahs, consider the destruction of Israel as just a step on the way to changing the entire world order. The Iranians want to bring about this change, and they have many allies who share their desire to bring down American-led global liberalization. The goal of such an alliance is not just the conquest of Israel, but the entire Western world as well. Furthermore, the Iranians view the West's reluctance to use force against them as a lack of will and proof that Iran is moving in the right direction. In the reaction in the Arab world to President Obama's reconciliation speech last week, the audience was very receptive and supportive to those words they considered a move towards them, but very cold at any mention of the need to give up the use of violence or to accept Israel's right to exist. The pragmatists show no intention to adopt this advice, but expect the administration to follow up on its demands from Israel. The main reason for the pragmatists' animosity has very little to do with the reality of the way they are treated by the Americans or the Israelis, and much more with their being persuaded by the radical's propaganda which portrays all shortcomings of Muslim society as the outcome of a Western plot against them. Thus, it is counterproductive for the West to make more and more concessions and to continue to express regret and contrition, since this "mea culpa" attitude just plays into the hands of the radicals and strengthens their claim about the plot. In the West, we expect that concessions and apologies will lead to reciprocal moves on their part. In the Middle East, it just strengthens their convictions of victimhood and their resolve to restore their honor. The combination of the strengthening of the radicals and progress on the Iranian nuclear project are the main threat to Israeli and American security and other interests. As long as the radicals feel that they are marching towards victory, we cannot afford to show signs of weakness. That will only make our job harder. The Palestinians do not accept that "the two-state solution" refers to two states for two peoples. In their view, one state should be the Palestinian state and the national identity of the other state should remain undefined, so that in the future it can become a Palestinian state as well. This means that there's an asymmetry between the Israeli recognition of the Palestinian demand for self-determination and the Palestinian recognition of the existence of Israel. A solution cannot be realized before the Palestinians accept Israel's right to exist in peace and security as a Jewish state.
2009-06-10 06:00:00
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