Obama’s Timetable Is Netanyahu’s Victory

May 20, 2009 by Jonathan Movroydis | Filed Under International Affairs, Iran 

Geneive Abdo, an analyst at the Century Policy Foundation, writes at Foreign Policy that talks — now conditioned with a timetable — give Israel ample justification to launch a military strike against Iran when they end with limited effect:

The realists in Israel favor talks for a limited time — with a deadline of six months — in order to justify a military attack. They concede that a military attack probably wouldn’t destroy Iran’s nuclear program, because the facilities are located underground. But an attack could delay Iran’s development of a nuclear bomb and allow Israel to advance its own air missile defense system in the meantime. For Israelis, the talks’ only use would be in demonstrating Iran’s intransigence — proving once and for all that Iran has no intention of suspending nuclear enrichment; that it will not end its financial support for Hezbollah and Hamas; and that it believes the United States and Israel should be contained.

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