‘Now is the time for choosing’ by Caroline Glick
On Wednesday, hikers around the southern Israeli city of Arad discovered the remains of an Iranian ballistic missile from the April 13 overnight assault. Israel’s Channel 11 identified it as a Khader-1 missile. The Khader-1, like the Imad missiles, which Iran also used in its strike, are nuclear capable.
The fact that Iran used two ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads should sound every alarm bell. In an interview with Deutsche Welle on Tuesday, International Atomic Energy Agency chairman Rafael Grossi said that Iran is “weeks rather than months” away from having enough enriched uranium to develop a nuclear bomb.
Israel’s war is not a war of choice. It isn’t a conflict that Israel can shrug its shoulders and walk away from, or opt for a limited goal of blocking incoming strikes. This is a war for national survival. Hamas made clear the genocide it aims to achieve on Oct. 7. Its appalling cruelty to the hostages it has held captive for more than six months demonstrates still further that there is no way to fight to a draw with this jihadist terror regime. There is no “deal” to be had with Hamas leaders. The same is true of Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon. And, of course, the same is true of Iran.
Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and their terror partners have used all the resources at their disposal to expand their capacity to annihilate Israel. They have not done this to jockey for stronger negotiating positions. They are putting everything they have into building these capacities because they really want to destroy Israel and kill the Jews. The calls for Israel’s destruction are not mere slogans. They are solid commitments.
The good news is that Israel has the military and economic power to defeat its enemies completely. The bad news is that in their efforts, Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and their other partners are not fighting alone. While the United States and other Western nations are willing to speak out against Hamas and Iran from time to time, they completely oppose Israel’s effort to defeat its enemies. Israel is permitted to defend against incoming attacks. But it is prohibited from taking decisive offensive action.
To block Israel from winning, the United States and its partners in Europe and the United Nations are waging an unprecedented, comprehensive and ever-escalating political war against Israel. Its clear goal is to criminalize Israel’s war effort and to effectively deny the Jewish state the right to self-defense.
Consider the news from the International Criminal Court at The Hague. Israel is not a member of the ICC. But to seize jurisdiction over Israel, the ICC took the legally dubious step of accepting “Palestine” as a member state. Since Oct. 7, the Palestinian Authority has deluged the ICC with war crimes complaints against Israel, even though they lack evidentiary basis. But they are supported politically by a slew of anti-Israel NGOs, and the U.N.’s institutionally anti-Semitic governing apparatus and agencies.
Early this week, rumors began to swirl that ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan is poised to act on these groundless complaints and issue international arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces. If Khan proceeds as reported, Israel’s top leaders will be unable to visit any of the ICC’s 120 member nations without first securing bilateral agreements with authorities in each country not to arrest them during their stay.
AUTHOR
Caroline Glick
Caroline B. Glick is a Senior Fellow with the Center for Security Policy. She is a senior columnist at Israel Hayom and the author of The Israeli Solution: A One-State Plan for Peace in the Middle East, (Crown Forum, 2014). From 1994 to 1996, she served as a core member of Israel’s negotiating team with the Palestine Liberation Organization.
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EDITORS NOTE: This Center for Security Policy column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.
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