Israel Matzav

Oops! Obama's great black hope out of control

On Sunday, I ran a story in which I referred to new Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz as the New York Times' great black hope. Mofaz apparently doesn't have the script straight. To be the Times' great black hope, you have to be President Obama's great black hope as well. And while Mofaz is happy to go along with President Obama's plan to denude Israel of most of its strategic assets in favor of a 'Palestinian state,' he's not willing - yet - to risk it all for the Ayatollah's. Mofaz slammed Obama's Iran policy in an interview to be published in the JPost on Friday.

Mofaz has been one of the most positive voices among Israeli politicians about Obama, with whom he is seeking a meeting to boost his prime ministerial credentials. He has repeatedly defended Obama’s policies, especially on the Palestinian issue.

But Mofaz said he did not endorse Obama’s idea to permit Iran to have a civilian nuclear program as long as it did not become a military program. Obama reportedly sent a secret message to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressing a willingness to accept a civilian program if Iran could prove it would not pursue nuclear weapons.

Washington Post columnist David Ignatius wrote that Obama had sent Khamenei the message via Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was was in Iran last week.

“It would be too hard to monitor [a civilian program],” Mofaz said. “Iran has military ambitions and abilities, so we cannot close our eyes. Allowing Iran to obtain even a civilian nuclear capability would change the balance of power in the Middle East. America realizes why Israel cannot accept this.”

Mofaz is going to have to get with the program if he wants Obama to back him. Tzipi Livni must be reading this and thinking that maybe she should start another party after all.

What could go wrong?

Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Iranian nuclear threat, Shaul Mofaz

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:45 AM