FORWARD COLUMN: …The disagreements inside Jerusalem involve not just tactical decisions but deeper philosophical approaches to national defense. As a citizen army in a nation surrounded by enemies, Israel’s military command sees its primary mission as keeping the country secure and its citizens safe by preventing war. It seeks to do this through a combination of deterrence and diplomacy. That pits it against both the Netanyahu-led secular and settler-led religious wings of the Israeli right, which seek victory, not mere calm. The right often suspects the military’s avoidance of war reflects cowardice or worse…
Simply put, the intelligence community believes the events of the last two decades — specifically the Oslo Accords of 1993 and the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002 — represent a genuine if reluctant shift in Arab intentions, from a goal of destroying Israel to a strategic decision to accept Israel’s existence. The political leadership disagrees…
When Obama upgraded America’s participation in the P5+1 talks with Iran from passive observer to active participation, Israel’s political leadership was alarmed that Washington was legitimizing the terrorist regime by talking to it. But Israel’s generals were impressed. Russia and China were now taking the process more seriously and honoring the sanctions more closely. Iran’s economy tanked. The regime began looking for a way out… (more)
