The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 7 of 13)

br> Re: George H. Wittman's Israel, Iran, and the Bomb : /p>

Mr. Wittman's notions regarding Israel's likely conduct in the matter of Iran's growing nuclear weapons capabilities is, alas, outdated and fundamentally flawed.

The current and foreseeable Israeli governments are notable more for their feckless pandering to the leftish, bien pensant internationale than for the self-interested, rugged independence Mr. Wittman imagines.

During this summer's barrage of several thousand Hizbollah rockets, some of which landed a 40-minute drive from downtown Tel Aviv, life in that city went on in its usual fast-lane hedonistic fashion. Inside what Israeli slang call The Bubble, the war existed only on television and the internet. The big issue was a gay pride parade.

In a sense, Mr. Wittman is correct in locating the political center of Israel there, in Tel Aviv, inside The Bubble. The Bubble, however, will not act against the Iranian nuclear threat.

p>That decision would have to be taken in Jerusalem -- still the capital of the State of Israel, a fact Mr. Wittman (like the U.S. State Department, which maintains its Embassy in Tel Aviv) seems either unaware of or unwilling to concede. br> -- Paul Kotik br> Plantation, Florida /p> p> Speaking as a 100% American of non-Jewish heritage, I say the Israeli government would be absolute fools to enter into any relationship with us that gave us even a strong advisory role in their national defense strategies. The American anti-war left, much of it headlined by Jews themselves, would be a complete mill stone around the neck of Israel when it comes to pre-emptive action. Heck, Israel is having enough trouble with its own internal anti-war elements without any help from ours. br> --

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