Perhaps because they believe Iran wants to eradicate them?
Like, a real war?
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If we are to think seriously about an Iranian-Israeli rapprochement, the two sides would not be at the (real or fake) brink of war. The question is whether Israel would be hypothetically strategically better off engendering some closer relations with Iran versus focusing exclusively on Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, etc. Bad blood didn’t stop Israel from supporting Iran during the Iran-Iraq war, for instance.
Or from engaging in other more covert alliances with Iran, according to Trita Parsi.
Israel was quite close with Iran before the Revolution, and would be overjoyed if Iran decided to renew the relationship. Israel’s hostility toward Iran is purely a result of Iran’s hostility toward Israel - we have nothing against the country in principle. In fact, Israel has always has a policy of allying itself with other non Muslim Arab elements in the Middle East. That’s why it had such a close relationship with Turkey before Erdogan’s Islamism, why it backed the Christians in Lebanon and why Israel has always supported the Kurds.
If Iran attacks Israeli soil, Israel will attack Iranian soil, and then all bets are off. It won’t be a full-scale invasion - Israel can’t invade Iran, and vice versa - but it can develop into a nasty ground fight in Syria and Lebanon accompanied by attacks on civilian centers and infrastructure in Iran and Israel. People in the north of Israel have been instructed to prepare their bomb shelters, and Israeli armor formations have been reported on the border with Syria. Things can escalate quickly.
I haven’t read that book, but its cover is… problematic.
Israel was close to the Shah. Not Iran.
I don’t have any access to pre-1978 Iranian public opinion polls, so I really can’t say. It’s not as if the current Iranian regime better represents what the Iranian people actually believe.
I get that, but is there any expectation that Iran is going to attack Israel? That would seem to be a dramatic (and misguided) escalation over some sanctions by the USA. Has Iran threatened to attack Israel if USA pulls out of the nuclear deal? Is there good reason to think they might (beyond the usual Iranians-are-assholes)?
Iran has been trying to entrench itself in Syria for some time now, and Israel has been trying to stop it. There have been a number of Israeli airstrikes against Iranian or Iranian-backed positions in the past few months, including one just yesterday. If a war breaks out, it won’t be primarily because of the nuclear deal - but the U.S.'s departure from it may be the spark.
I believe I’ve heard somewhere that that’s not what a book should be judged by, though?
Oddly enough, that’s one saying that only works as a metaphor. Actual books should definitely be judged by their covers.
Netanyahu 16 years ago.
Bibi has always had his lips firmly attached to the Republican Party’s ass. It’s one of the reasons he shouldn’t be Prime Minister.
Not up on your politics, but wasn’t he mired in a corruption scandal recently?
He still is. Three separate scandals, IIRC. We’re waiting to see if he’ll get indicted.
That said, while he’s definitely not my choice for PM, he’s what we’ve got. And setting aside his demagoguery, his position on the nuclear agreement and last week’s ham-handed intelligence briefing, I actually think that he’s been doing a good job in Syria. Bibi may have a lot in common with his Cheeto idol, but unlike Trump, sometimes he actually listens to the professionals.
Alessan:
Given how much longer Bibi has been ion politics than Trump, I find it hard to imagine that he thinks of Trump as an idol. Sure, Bibi loves when the Republicans are in charge in America, but why wouldn’t he? He’s right wing, they’re right wing. Is it any different with the left wings of the two country’s body politic? Lord knows Bill Clinton was best buds with Peres and Barak.
Bibi’s alliance with the GOP is several steps beyond any other Israeli PM. Previous Prime Ministers at least made a pretense of objectivity regarding U.S. politics; their official position was always that Israel’s relationship was with the United States as a whole, not with any specific party. Not Netanyahu - he’s the Republicans’ creature through and through. His speech before the Republican Congress against the Iran nuclear agreement was the low point, but it wasn’t alone. He’s made support for Israel a partisan issue in the United States, and I despise him for it.
As for Trump, it’s true that Bibi has always been Bibi, but ever since Trump’s election he’s grown somehow worse - cruder, more boastful, less outwardly thoughtful. It may just be age, and he’s definitely been in power for far too long, but I also think that he saw Trump’s success and is trying to emulate it. Of course, unlike Trump, Netantyahu is actually an intelligent man, and while he definitely puts himself above his country, at least his country is still in the top ten. Still, it’s troubling.
Meh. I think on that he is ahead of the curve actually. State-State relationships are going the way of the dodo, the new world, agreements and relationships are with individuals and will be renegotiated when said individual is out.