Israel and the U.S. are back in the news, and it’s negative again. On Monday, the Wall Street Journal released findings that Israel has been spying on the proceedings of diplomatic talks between the P5+1 (the U.S., the U.K., Russia, China and France, plus Germany) and Iran with regards to the latter’s nuclear program.
This revelation comes right on the heels of a series of blunders on the part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in Israel that has made the historically warm relationship between Israel and the U.S. increasingly frosty. The events at the center of this ever evolving fall-out include the recent joint speech Netanyahu gave in Congress and the racist commentsNetanyahu made on the eve of the Israeli elections.
But one has to wonder if there should really be this much controversy surrounding Israeli spying operations in relation to the Iran talks. After all, the Israelis have very obvious reasons for being interested in how the talks are progressing, and it would make more sense if they were included anyway.
While some might argue that to include Israelis in the talks would effectively kill them (because the Israelis would take such a hard line that the Iranians would never be able to accede to their demands without losing face), I would argue that to not include Israelis would have the same effect, if not a worse one, such as what is happening now.
But there exists more justification for Israeli spying besides the fact that Israelis have a vested interest in how the talks move forward. It also has precedent set by the U.S. on this issue on two counts. In the first place, the U.S. can hardly call out Israel on the issue of spying when it has done so to basically every other country on earth, including its allies (think Germany).
Secondly, the U.S. and Israel have very intimate intelligence sharing cooperation between each other. Israel could have been merely extending its writ with regards to that intelligence partnership, though this would be a very self-serving interpretation of that writ.
But in reality, it wasn’t that Israel spied on the Iran talks that is really the problem. In fact, this incident in isolation is really not a problem in any sense. Rather, it is what Israel did with the information that it procured, and what it has been doing since the talks started that presents the problem.
Netanyahu’s government, and Netanyahu in particular, has sought to undermine these talks through direct confrontation with the president, using the influence it wields in Congress. This latest incident is a perfect example: the Israeli government used the information it had gathered on the talks to influence Congress’s opinion on them.
The nature of an ally is to cooperate, not to intrude. Instead of acting like a responsible adult in the international community as an ally of the U.S. should, Israel has behaved like a spoiled brat, crying and whining every time it doesn’t get its way. Netanyahu jealously guards the sovereignty of his country and the ability to protect it, even to the point of directly and vocally supporting a pre-emptive strike against Iran in the event that he believes they are close enough to a nuclear weapon. Yet even as he guards his own prerogatives, he continually invades those of another head of state, President Barack Obama. Netanyahu is being a hypocrite, and leading his country toward ruin and destruction on this issue as well as others.
I call on the leadership of Israel to let the Iran talks to move ahead without trying to sabotage or derail them. I simply don’t understand their logic that Israel stands to gain from doing this.
If Iran feels isolated, it will push forward with its nuclear program to the point that will push all options besides war off the table. We all know what a war with a nuclear-armed Iran would look like, and it would not be pretty for Israel.
I would also like to call on the leadership of Congress to stop encouraging such babyish and irresponsible behavior and to stop engaging in it themselves. The disgraceful and disrespectful conduct of the 47 Republican senators who sent a letter to Iran demonstrating their contempt for any deal was just as bad as Israel’s behavior lately. Hey Congress, Israel: Grow up!
Reach the columnist at jbrunne2@asu.edu or follow @JARBrunner4 on Twitter.
Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
Want to join the conversation? Send an email to opiniondesk.statepress@gmail.com. Keep letters under 300 words and be sure to include your university affiliation. Anonymity will not be granted.
Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on Twitter.
