Obama won't stop iran

World Jewish Digest

Despite maintaining a veneer of happy collaboration, Israeli officials are deeply unhappy with the Obama administration's approach to the Iranian nuclear program.

It has long been assumed by observers that this is the case, but thus far there has been no public confirmation of it. That changed on Sunday night, when officials speaking under the cover of anonymity told YNet that all is definitely not well behind the scenes.

"While the House of Representatives and the Senate are promoting (anti-Iran) legislation," said one of the officials,

the White House is operating according to an ideology which could be defined as "hesitant." The Iranian issue calls for a clear stance, but the administration has yet to take the necessary measures to significantly hurt the ayatollahs' regime.

Especially cutting was the officials' praise for the French and British governments, who normally tend to wait for American leadership on such issues as Iran. Instead, Israel appears to believe that the two leading nations of Europe are well out in front of the U.S.

"France and the UK," said one official, "have begun to act determinedly, while Obama's administration has yet to formulate a policy that is sufficiently severe."

Such criticism not only reinforces a longstanding impression of Obama as being soft on Iran and on foreign policy in general, something often described with the expression "leading from behind," but also rubs salt in the wound by praising French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has also criticized Obama on the Iran issue.

France has increasingly taken on a leadership role in regard to Western policy on the Middle East as America appears to be disengaging. Sarkozy lead the push for NATO intervention in the Libyan civil war, which eventually toppled the Qaddafi regime, and has been the leading European voice for a tougher policy toward Iranian nuclear ambitions.

Dan Shapiro, Obama's ambassador to Israel, sought to maintain the facade of a united front, saying, "There is no issue that we coordinate" with Israel "more closely on than Iran."

Such public reassurances are par for the course in international politics, but if the reports of Israel's behind the scenes sentiments are accurate, then it appears that the security and foreign policy establishments are beginning to give up on the possibility of U.S. resistance to Iranian nuclear ambitions, at least so long as Obama is president.

If this is so, then it is very likely that Israel is beginning to seriously consider its military options. Thus far, the possibility of U.S. intervention has stayed Israel's hand, given the obvious advantages America enjoys in a military conflict with Iran, however brief.

Now, however, the Jewish state may finally be losing patience with its closest ally.