NOTE: I’ve just published a new piece in Middle East Eye recounting the history of the IHRA defintion of anti-Semitism; and the role played by the Israel Lobby in devising it and exploiting it to sabotage the political ascent of Jeremy Corbyn, among others. Please give it a read and let others know too.
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The world’s Iran haters are quick to point out (falsely) that Iranian leaders have threatened not just Israel, but world Jewry with extinction. Among them, Bibi Netanyahu has likened Ayatollah Khamenei to Hitler and his regime to the Nazis. In turn, they allege that no Israeli leader has ever made any such threats. This is supposed to mean that Iran is a genocidal, evil country while Israel is white as driven snow.
Well, tonight’s post will disprove this completely. Israel’s prime minister spoke at a ceremony at the Dimona nuclear reactor, which produces the plutonium powering Israel’s nuclear weapons arsenal. The occasion marked the renaming of the facility in honor of Shimon Peres, known as the father of Israel’s weapons program. I’ve recounted some of this sordid history here, which included massive lies, bluffs and even theft of nuclear material right out from under the noses of U.S. officials; a crime which was deliberately covered-up by several U.S. presidents. It’s ironic that Netanyahu hated Peres and vice versa.
The speech (official transcript) represents everything that I loathe about Netanyahu. It’s almost as if he’s channeling Thomas Hobbes or Adolf Hitler, or Meir Kahane.
This is the most explicit threat of nuclear annihilation ever mounted by an Israeli leader against Iran or any other enemy state. Even if it is only a bluff, it is one that should never be made. Not ever. Not unless you’re prepared to do the terrible thing you threaten. I fear that even if Israel does not actually use nuclear weapons against Iran (as Benny Morris and other great minds have suggested), it becomes that much easier to contemplate a military strike, and a concerted effort to topple the Iranian regime. Such a campaign will fail, but it will succeed in one way: in drenching the region in the blood of tens, if not hundreds of thousands of innocent Israelis, Iranians, and possibly Americans.
Though the speech has been reported by several news outlets, none have grasped the full scope and naked aggression in his remarks.
Here is a portion of them:
Shimon Peres strove for peace. But he also understood that true peace can only be realized if our hands grasp firmly weapons which protect us. In the Middle East, as in other parts of the world, there is one simple truth: there is no place for the weak. They’re trampled, slaughtered, erased from history. But the strong, for better or worse, survive. The strong are respected. You sign treaties with the strong, and ultimately you make peace with the strong.
This process of normalization between a strong Israel and the major Arab states has occurred at a rate which could not have been imagined only a few years ago. It’s a process which holds out great hope that finally the circle of peace may be completed. But it’s impossible to deny that many enemies remain both near and far…
Our enemies know what we are capable of. They understand our policy. Whoever tries to harm us, we will harm him.
I’m not mouthing slogans. I’m describing a consistent, clear and determined policy. This is our policy. It is supported by full preparedness, deployment, infrastructure, readiness and, at the right moment, the proper orders.
We are acting to prevent Iran’s military consolidation in Syria. We will not weaken in this mission just as we never weakened in our effort to cancel the terrible nuclear deal with Iran; a goal seen as impossible when I first put it forth on the international agenda several years ago.
He who threatens us with extinction places himself in a similar danger and, at any event, will not achieve his aim.
I would humbly suggest that Israel is not to be trusted with nuclear weapons. Not under the leadership of this zealot. Rather than sit back and let him work his ‘magic’ on the region and the world, I suggest that other states come to see Netanyahu and the state he leads as being a true and profound threat to peace.
‘…I suggest that other states come to see Netanyahu and the state he leads as being a true and profound threat to peace.’
I imagine that other states will come to see this. The difficulty is that they may need a concrete demonstration first.
I would like to make 2 points.
Netanyahu:
He hits the nail on the head with that, for that is what Israel has done & is still doing to the Palestinians
Netanyahu:
Any attack on Iran, incl. a so-called “anticipatory self-defense” attack, no matter how devastating for Iran, will surely result in a ‘rain’ of missiles onto Israel from both Iran and Hezbollah, which, no matter how Netanyahu spins it, would be the end of Israel, worse than what happened to Germany during WW2.
As for what Richard said here “This is the most explicit threat of nuclear annihilation ever mounted by an Israeli leader against Iran or any other enemy state. Even if it is only a bluff, it is one that should never be made. Not ever. Not unless you’re prepared to do the terrible thing you threaten. I fear that even if Israel does not actually use nuclear weapons against Iran (as Benny Morris and other great minds have suggested), it becomes that much easier to contemplate a military strike, and a concerted effort to topple the Iranian regime. Such a campaign will fail, but it will succeed in one way: in drenching the region in the blood of tens, if not hundreds of thousands of innocent Israelis, Iranians, and possibly Americans, I have this to say. While I care about everyone else, I really don’t give a hoot about the “hundreds of thousands of Israelis.” They have the option to get the hell out of there. If they happen to be in the minority and aren’t able to get rid of Netanyahu, then they really should leave. As for the majority of Israelis who either support Netanyahu or who are simply apathetic, I really don’t care what happens to them. As for what Paranam Kid said here “Any attack on Iran, incl. a so-called “anticipatory self-defense” attack, no matter how devastating for Iran, will surely result in a ‘rain’ of missiles onto Israel from both Iran and Hezbollah, which, no matter how Netanyahu spins it, would be the end of Israel, worse than what happened to Germany during WW2” goes, I hope that’s exactly what happens to Israel if Netanyahu ever attacks Iran! As a Jew whose family came to America to escape Nazi Germany, I am opposed to a Jewish state that commits oppression..
“Speak softly and carry a big stick” would be so much wiser
I guess I miss something b/c I find no disproof anywhere in the post.
Big promise, long quote but no smoking gun (or smoke or gun).
“He who threatens us with extinction places himself in a similar danger and, at any event, will not achieve his aim.” is not a threat.
Richard has shown that Israel is the genocidal, evil country for threatening Iran with a nuclear holocaust that would wipe out most or all of its population. Such action would amount to genocide.
Iran, on the other hand, has no made such threat against Israel.
So Netanyahu specifically mentioning self defense is genocidal but Khamenei twitting himself in English “Israel is a malignant cancerous tumor in the West Asian region that has to be removed and eradicated: it is possible and it will happen.” is invitation to Baklawa?
https://mobile.twitter.com/khamenei_ir/status/1003332853525110784?lang=en
@ Yoni: Netanyahu didn’t mention self-defense. He said that Israel stands poised to annihilate Iran. He alluded vaguely to some type of threat from Iran. But the naked aggression against Iran was far more clear than his specifying that Iran needed to offer any pretext to incite that aggression.
Whatever Khamenei did or didn’t say, he never said that he was building a nuclear bomb to annihilate Israel. That’s what Bibi just said. And it’s foul, disgusting and immoral.
You are done in this thread.
Yoni: Hey buddy, you left out (conveniently) the very next paragraph in his quote:
THis is not an implicit threat of nuclear extinction. It’s an explicit threat. If you don’t see this then either you can’t read, can’t comprehend, or are a paid zio-shill. So which is it?
You are done in this thread.
[comment deleted: I make the rules here. You don’t like the rules go elsewhere. Nor do I debate with anyone about what those rules are. Ignore my request again not to publish in a thread after you’ve had your opportunity to do so and you will be moderated. Consider this a first warning.]
[comment deleted: insults and lies about me or other commenters is a cardinal comment rule violation.]
The territory of Israel is approx. 8,335 sq. mi. excluding any disputed areas (Palestinian, Golan, etc.) But most of Israelis live between Jerusalem and Haifa, which is approx. 1.5 hours worth of a drive sans traffic to go through what would be the most densely populated areas of Israel. Those areas take up approx. 1,000-1,250 sq. mi. of Israeli territory. So, Iran would only have to target 1/8th of the tiny sliver that Israel already is to be able to inflict nuclear scale sized consequences/costs to Israel using merely conventional weapons.
Knowing that Israel is subject to conventional calamity, and that “one nuke” wouldn’t finish the job with Iran (or several), Netanyahu here sabre-rattles against the wind mostly for his own electorate, his Kahanist messianic end-game and endangers the entire Israeli enterprise — if it even exists anymore as people think it was supposed to — in the process.
מי שמאיים עלינו בכלייה, מעמיד עצמו בסכנה דומה, ובכל מקרה הוא לא ישיג את מטרתו.
I know I have been promoted by Richard to uber-hasbaroid, Nonetheless it is quite clear to anybody other than the zio-basher crowd, when looking at the original Hebrew statement, in context, that it is the language and rhetoric of deterrence.
Many in this region have used similar language, including the Palestinians, and the Iranians. If our enemy does xyz we will do abc. Here Netanyahu says that anybody who threatens us exposes himself to the same threat. What is so exceptional about that??? I can’t think of anything MORE moral! A country the declares that an existential threat will be met with a counter threat???
The previous commentors have already convicted Israel of “genocide” based on THEIR tendentious interpretation of his statement as a threat, rather than as a contingent warning to adversaries. Iranian political and military leaders routinely make disgusting threats at Israel, and you ignore them. (I’ll let you Google to find them yourself)
And by any standards Netanyahu has shown himself to be a conservative and cautious politician who is not a risk taker.
Stop losing sleep, and to those of you waiting for Israel’s destruction, you can forget about it. You’re going to have to wait a long time.
@ DrS: This statement in Hebrew is even more clearly nakedly aggressive than my translation. It clearly says Israel is fully operationally prepared to annihilate Iran with nuclear weapons. FUrther, it was spoken at a facility which has produced Israel’s 200 or more nuclear weapons. It’s more than a threat. It verges on a promise. And it certainly is not defensive in nature or spoken as deterrence.
If you don’t like my interpretation, then go read the headlines which interpreted it the same way, using similar language. It’s all over the internet buddy. Virtually none of these stories interpreted Bibi as speaking of deterrence. THey got it right. You got it wrong.
You can maunder on about Iranian threats, but the truth of the matter is that Iran has no nuclear weapons, has never threatened to use them on Israel even if it did. The only threats Iran can muster is to rain its missiles down on Israel. Such missiles, if they reached their target would cause 1/100,000 of the damage that Israel nuke will cause in Iran.
Considering that Israel can virtually destroy Iran with a single bomb, yes, I think IRanian threats are considerably less dangerous than Israel’s.
Bibi has never shown himself to be cautious. He’s murdered thousands of Gazans on the altar of political expediency. He attacked them because there would be almost no downside to doing so. They can hardly fight back.
I’m not waiting for Israel’s destruction. And if you ever make such a claim here again you will be banned. I’m waiting for its transformation into a truly democratic country.
DrS Moon of Alabama asks
Which Fascist said this?
You Israelis are really naive if you think that Israel can dominate the region full of competed resources for a long period. Israel is strong only because it can control and manipulate USA. USA is strong only so long US Dollar can hold its position as the dominant currency. With all these trade wars and sanctions USD is fast loosing its role as the reserve currency. Without USA what is Israel? You should read some history and remind yourself how long has Jewish nation been independent during the past 4000 years. A couple of hundred years. 5 million militant Jews in Israel with nukes can hardly dominate giant countries Egypt, Turkey, Iran etc for the next lets say 50 years. The day when US protection vanishes lets hope that the leaders in the region have forgotten what Netanyahu claimed.
@ SimoHurrta: Thanks for the quotation. It’s quite apt. Not to mention that a leading Likud settler politician has explicitly praised Hitler.
BTW the Iranian threats against Israel are also populism and intended for internal consumption, as well as deterrence. For example
https://gulfnews.com/opinion/thinkers/iran-s-threats-against-israel-all-bark-and-no-bite-1.2210989
https://www.timesofisrael.com/as-iran-threatens-to-annihilate-israel-hezbollah-boast-of-reach-of-rockets/
But I really don’t lose much sleep because that is how the people talk around here. The Shiites are a minority in the Islamic world and they always have to pretend to be vicious in order to deter their Sunni and other adversaries.
@ DrS: Israel is a minority in the Middle East, but doesn’t “pretend to be vicious” in order to deter its adversaries. It is vicious.
Last May you published a comment promising to “move on.” What happened? Couldn’t get enough of us?
Also, you’re using serial IP addresses to comment here. I don’t know why, but it immediately raises my suspicions.
I am using the same handle and email. My router sometimes changes IP when I reset it. Nothing “suspicious”…
I drop by every so often to see what is being said in your circles.