We here at The Jewish Press are among those recently expressing concern that President Trump was wavering in his resolve not to permit Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. We pointed to the anomaly of his opting for continued negotiations in the face of Iran’s obvious desire to tire the U.S. out of negotiations – even offering counterproposals to ever-mounting Iranian “demands,” despite Iran’s unprecedented weakened military position.
But after his epic expressions of support for Israel’s dramatic takedown of Iran’s nuclear weapons program last week, once again, Donald Trump has confounded the skeptics. However, as welcome and transformative as his support is, the president must take care not to alienate his base, which claims to be wary of any initiative that could embroil the U.S. in yet another “endless war” and also violate the now sacrosanct “America First” mantra. And, of course, the ineluctable byproduct of all of this would be yet more fuel for anti-Israel and antisemitic sentiment in precincts perhaps better left unaroused.
Some prominent conservative media leaders – like Tucker Carlson – are already publicly accusing Mr. Trump of hawking for Israel in its fight with Iran at the expense of American security interests. Considering that almost half of the country suffers from Trump Derangement Syndrome and will viscerally oppose anything favored by Donald Trump, this seems something to devoutly be avoided.
So we think the president would do well to speak now about how, in its efforts to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program, Israel is furthering an essential American interest. It would not be amiss to remind everyone that in describing their mission to rid the world of evil, the Ayatollahs invariably identify as targets both Israel as “the little Satan” and America as the “big Satan” as well.
Surely, also in the general sense, a superpower like the United States with a worldwide agenda has a vital interest in a world without a nuclear empowered, fanatical sponsor of terror. In that sense alone, can anyone doubt the benefits to America of Israel’s handing the Ayatollahs their collective heads?
In fact, in this regard, the U.S. and Israel are a near perfect match. Israel provides the “boots on the ground” and is capable of taking care of business, as they say, with the U.S. playing the key supportive role. That is, when America sends warships to the region, intercepts enemy missiles and drones aimed at Israel, and declares that it has Israel’s back whether or not it supported an Israeli initiative, there can be no greater deterrent to massive retaliation against Israel. Few would look forward to having to confront the military power of the United States. And this is to say nothing about the American willingness to use the economic sanctioning stick.
In sum, President Trump’s great support for Israel needs context in order to ward off the notion that President Trump is in the thrall of some predatory Jews. He must say the truth, that far from suggesting some unholy conspiracy, Israel brings much to the table in its partnership with the U.S. and is invaluable to the American mission.
