This undated photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, shows Maj. Gen. Esmail Ghaani. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei later on Friday appointed Qassem Soleimani’s deputy, Maj. Gen. Esmail Ghaani as the new commander of the Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force. Soleimani was killed in the U.S. airstrike in Iraq. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
HOWARD EPSTEIN – LETTER FROM ISRAEL – Giving Iran Repeated Nudges
Messages, messages. The past week was one of messages, sent out by Israel to friends and foes.
A rare daylight airstrike against weapons caches around Damascus of Hezbollah and other Iran-affiliated militias last Saturday caused explosions and killed at least one Syrian Armed Forces soldier while wounding three others. This was Israel’s way of signaling to Iran, “So far and no further”. There are red lines in the path of Iranian expansionism. Some are dealt with by cyber attack (for example on all the petrol stations in Iran, that perforce had a day off last week); others by the removal of secret nuclear data from the Iranian capital, as in 2018; still more by the neutralising (several times) of their key operatives; and some kinetically in the heart of one of their proxy outposts such as the former country, Syria.
Giving Iran repeated nudges in the direction of failure may be enough to dislodge the nihilistic bloodthirsty mullahs from power. People are not unaware that wherever Iran goes, failed statehood is close behind. Merely regard the condition of Yemen and Lebanon, not to mention Iran itself that can barely provide sufficient water to its people. The proximate cause of the Syrian civil war was the countryside becoming parched and the people taking to the cities. Iran may be well down that route even now.
Iran received another message last week and not from Israel. The US and the E3 (Germany, France and Britain) urged Iran to resume compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal in order to “avoid a dangerous escalation.” The leaders of the four countries hope to convince Tehran that it should stop enriching uranium to near-weapons-grade levels. They said they wanted a negotiated solution, but it takes two to negotiate. “This will only be possible if Iran changes course,” indicated Biden, Merkel, Macron and Johnson in a joint statement, issued on the side-lines of the G20 summit in Rome. They appear to understand that this matter is becoming urgent. They may have been helped towards a realpolitik view by the Israeli government officially approving a special allocation of $1.5 billion for a possible attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities if other routes fail to force Iran to halt its progress in nuclear technology.
In any event, Israel is to spend this week reinforcing the message to Iran. In a Sunday-to-Thursday drill presupposing being on the receiving end of 2,000 rockets a day and internal strife, the IDF is preparing for war. A spokesman said: “This exercise is … a great opportunity for all government ministries to understand the implications, starting with disruptions in the energy sector – we are talking about 24-hour power outages across the country, 72 hours in localised communities – and other such aspects in terms of continual functioning.” Indeed, this drill represents the first occasion on which the military is working together with the Home Front Command, to sharpen their abilities to work hand-in-glove. This is a rough neighbourhood and no mistake.
Israel sent out yet another message last week. In order to demonstrate his disdain for the UN’s bias against Israel, Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, dramatically tore up a report by the organization’s UN Human Rights Council, critical of Israel. No less than 95 anti-Israel condemnations out of 142 against UN member states have been passed since the Council’s inception in 2006. “It’s always open season on Israel at the Human Rights Council,” Erdan told the General Assembly in New York last Friday.
But the Jewish State has other messages to disseminate, too. At the World Fashion Festival Awards in Dubai last weekend, Israeli singer Narkis, a religiously-observant Jewess, performed her song “Holechet Itcha” (Walking with You) in both Hebrew and Arabic, to great acclaim. She wore a dress by Israeli designer Ilanit Mizrahi, decorated with both Emirati and Israeli flags. Mizrahi herself won first place for best bridal designer. “May we merit to get to more moments like this. Believe in yourselves,” declared Mizrahi. “Israel is on the map.”
And we’re not finished messaging the world yet. PM Naftali Bennet was interviewed by The Times (of London) last week, as he was leaving for Glasgow and COP26. Representing a small country whose level of emissions hardly impacts at all on the world’s climate, what message of importance did he have for the British and other states’ delegations? Israel sees the conference as an opportunity to punch above its weight (again) when it comes to technological solutions. These solutions include renewable energy, desert agriculture, water technology, alternatives to meat and more. The UK, COP26’s host country, is just one of the many nations that have already looked to Israel to assist their efforts to eliminate carbon emissions.
That Israel takes COP26 very seriously is clear from the size of its delegation. Some 130 members, suitable for the promotion of its wares, services and especially know-how, rather than on negotiating difficult concessions, accompanied the Israeli PM. Along with Bennett were Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg and Energy Minister Karin Elharrar, and their staff, other MKs, representatives of academia, business, industry, start-ups, youth and more.
So there’s the final Israeli message of the week, addressed to the whole world: “You bring us your problems and we will find a solution.”
© November 2021 – Howard Epstein
