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Fearing Iran

[Guardian-UK] Toby Greene - At the Herzliya Conference, members of the country's political, academic and military elite gather in one hall and talk in public for four days about Israel's strategic challenges. Each year the conference concludes with an address by the prime minister. Comparing Ehud Olmert's words this year with his speech from a year ago starkly reveals the extent to which Israel's strategic priorities have shifted. Whereas a year ago the prime minister focused on the need to separate from the Palestinians, this year the Palestinian issue was barely mentioned. Instead his focus was the existential threat posed by Iran, which was the dominant theme of the conference. In the last 12 months Israel has fought a war with the Iranian-backed Hizbullah on its northern border, seen the election of Iranian-backed Hamas in the Palestinian territories and watched the growing influence of Iran in Iraq. All the while Iran keeps up its threatening rhetoric against Israel and the Jewish people and pursues nuclear weapons capability with contempt for united international opposition. When Iranian President Ahmadinejad states his desire to see Israel wiped off the map, Israelis take him at his word. The writer was head of policy and research for Labour Friends of Israel from 2004 to 2006.
2007-01-26 01:00:00
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