Israel Matzav

Obama threatened retaliation against Israeli action on Iran if Israel didn't release 'Palestinians'?

In an earlier post, I discussed (and cast doubt on) the claim that Israel traded 104 terrorist murderers for an American attack on Iran. But what if what happened was that Obama and Kerry told Netanyahu that if we didn't release the 104 terrorist murderers, and return to the table with the 'Palestinians,' when and if Israel bombed Iran, the US would leave us to face the consequences alone? That's what Defense Minister Moshe "Boogie" Yaalon implied in addressing new IDF inductees at Tel HaShomer on Monday.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon referred on Monday to unseen considerations that are far from the public eye as the main catalyst for Israel’s decision to release imprisoned Palestinian terrorists.

Speaking at the IDF’s absorption base for new draftees at Tel Hashomer, Ya’alon said, “Releasing prisoners came as a result of choosing a bad option over a worse option… We reached the decision to avoid the worse [option]. Many strategic considerations, which may be revealed in the future, stood behind this, and hence we must go forward with a release of pre-Oslo prisoners.”

Some analysts have suggested that Israel agreed to the release as part of its efforts to secure American support in a potential military confrontation with Iran over Tehran’s expanding nuclear program.

Ya’alon said the decision was made “with a heavy heart.”

“These are murderers,” he said. “This is a challenge to justice, to law and to bereaved families, and I hear their voices.”

He added that the release also posed challenges to deterrence and security, but said those problems could be dealt with.

“We are embarking on this maneuver responsibly, with good judgement, and we’ll be able to provide an answer to security aspects… I know who these prisoners are, how many they are, what they did, [and] when they did it,” Ya’alon said.

The implication is "Obama threatened us." How could Obama threaten us? He can't go to war against us - the American public would never tolerate it, and Obama would never lead a war anyway (see Libya, Syria).  He can't threaten not to attack Iran, because no one here believes he will attack Iran anyway. He can't really threaten to stop us from attacking Iran because the US doesn't control the skies over Iraq anymore, which was the previous basis for that threat.

That leaves a threat to leave Israel exposed to the military and diplomatic consequences of an Israeli attack on Iran, which Obama might do regardless of how many 'Palestinians' we release or what 'settlement' we reach with them.

What could go wrong?

Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Binyamin Netanyahu, Iranian nuclear threat, Israeli attack on Iran, John Kerry, Moshe Yaalon, Palestinian state, Palestinian terrorists

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:25 AM