Blowing Off the Israel-Iran War Question

SCHIEFFER: What if -- what if the prime minister of Israel called you on the phone and said, "Our bombers are on the way. We're going to bomb Iran." What do you-- 

ROMNEY: Bob, let's not go into hypotheticals of that nature.

Frankly, I'm disappointed and frustrated that Bob allowed both candidates to decline this question, in my opinion the most important one in last night's debate.

As far as the republicans, democrats, and the mainstream American media are concerned, all you need to know about Israel is this: Once upon a time, the Nazis killed millions and millions of Jews. It was the most horrible thing that ever happened. As a result, there is now a Jewish state called Israel, and unless the US supports Israel as if it were part and parcel of the United States, the Holocaust will happen again. The End.

Unfortunately, that's not a complete picture, and it is my sad duty to inform you that international politics are almost never that simple. Almost 70 years have passed since the Holocaust, over three generations, and many things have happened in that time: hot wars, cold wars, nuclear proliferation, terrorist attacks, reprisals, etc.

The most important figure in Israeli politics since the '90s is Bibi Netanyahu. A hawkish saber-rattler, Natanyahu has repeatedly threatened a preemptive military strike by Israel against Iran as of late. On 29 July, he said that "all the sanctions and diplomacy so far have not set back the Iranian program by one iota." He reiterated this position before the United Nations on 28 September:

For nearly a decade, the international community has tried to stop the Iranian nuclear program with diplomacy. That hasn't worked. [...] we must face the truth. Sanctions have not stopped Iran's nuclear program either. (full transcript)

Perhaps the most frightening recent incident occurred in August when the Israeli government's "shock-and-awe" strike plans were leaked to the BBC. (You probably didn't hear about it in the American news.)

It's possible that all of this posturing is a bluff -- either way, Israel wants Iran (and the rest of the world) to take such threats seriously. And yet, the American media (just like Romney, Obama, and Bob Schieffer) are willing to sweep the possibility of an Israeli attack on Iran under the rug. Perhaps this is because any criticism of Israel's policies runs the risk being labeled "anti-Semitism", rendering the entire topic politically ill-advised. Of course, there have been a few exceptions -- this piece in the New York Times provides an excellent objective analysis of the situation.

...a poll conducted jointly last month by the Truman Institute at Hebrew University and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that 77 percent of Israelis now oppose a military attack on Iran that is not approved by Washington, although 71 percent would support an attack with American consent.

It is a waste of the American peoples' time to hear presidential candidates reiterate their mutual support of our alliance with Israel. Likewise, it is pointless to remind Americans that our NATO obligations would require us to defend Israel in the event of an attack, just as Israel would likewise be required to defend the US.

What the American people deserve is an answer to the question of what our response would be if Israel were to go on the offensive and initiate a war with Iran -- whether America would consent to such an attack, and whether we would allow ourselves to be drawn into it, and ultimately take responsibility for it.

--Dan Colgate