Israel's Measured Response

Submitted by M. Tovey (United States), Jun 27, 2012 at 11:46

A strange paradox is starting to present itself to form an oblique perspective; one that actually already has beginnings overlooked due to the confusion of how the Middle East is in its Arab Upheaval; and realignments are occurring moment by moment. To try determining which circumstance is the proximal cause requires a review and reanalysis of decades of preliminary political posturing going all the way back to 1948. There is no time for that now; the current circumstances do not suggest an easy solution.

Israel is central and proximal to most, if not all the angst's, antagonisms and anxieties of the modern Middle East. Gaza is in turmoil by most media accounts: oh, let's blame the Israelis. Hizbollah is entrenched in Lebanon preparing for a possible next attempt to cause a new border rift: let's blame the Israeli's. The issues of the 'Palestinian' population going on before the reestablishment of the Israeli state and especially after 1948, due to differing opinion on how life is to be lived-whether Jewish, Muslim or quasi-Christian-is deemed unacceptable by the extremists; radical Muslim extremists make sure to blame Israel for all of the misery conveniently forgetting the greater misery of their own radical Islamic views which contribute to the situation's grief for the Muslims. Mavi Marmara comes to mind here.

One might venture that during the two major conflicts of 1967 and 1973, and the minor ones in between and since, Israel, in actuality, has shown great restraint. Even as they were being pounded by SCUDs during the Kuwaiti incursion by Iraq, they could have responded quite differently (one can be sure they had their fingers on the response alarms if there was a sense their patience was being exploited) and made life for the attackers quite unbearable, forcing them to run for hudna cover.

But here is a deflection of a previously held opinion: a suggestion for restraint in dealing with Iran. One asks: why?

All of the realigning of the Arab upheaval that has been going on for nearly two years, and of a situation that was inaugurated in 2009 that has come to fruition recently suggests Israel needs to take a differing approach to what's happening. To be sure, Iran is for all practical purposes begging to have a reason to hit Israel: they have their version of cabinet meetings to discuss all the possible ways to move on Israel-but if they could have done it at any time, they would not have needed nuclear power to do it. To be more sure, to keep Iran from becoming nuclear is a high priority but should not be cause for the potential of diverting attention to the shape shifting of other potential threats to Israel.

For all of the potential of Iran getting itself ready to deal with Israel and in that attempt validating the mindset of an Iranian led global caliphate, Iran is probably realizing they cannot do it alone-and that is their probable cause of their own restraint. It is also why they are more effective in using proxy actions to keep everyone who has a grudge against the Jewish nation busy with antagonizing Israel, all the while looking for the opening to engage Israel in the Muslim quest to diminish and then finally eliminate Israel from the Middle Eastern scene. It is a difficult situation to encounter; but in the final analysis, it will fail.

Restraint on the part of Israel will force a squabbling world to do their own damage to themselves; that while Israel is going to be caught in it all and will not miss out on the suffering that ensues, the potential of how it all might start would not be due to Israel trying to pick a fight, but a world led by an instigation of its own (that could just as easily be found in the Turkish/Syrian conflict-Russia has that stake to consider) is more likely and the world is being prepared to do just that very thing.

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