Egypt: Last Straw in Obama's Middle East Foreign Policy Disasters

President Obama's knee jerk reaction to the original Tahrir Sq uprising forced the military to oust long time US ally Hosni Mubarak - the reason? "Well democracy must be better right?"!  No real thought appears to have been given to who or what might have filled that power vacuum, even though it seemed obvious to those of us who follow Middle East politics, that only the Muslim Brotherhood - with values inimical to democracy - had the organization in place to fight elections. The Brotherhood, recognizing this, pushed for early elections. Obama saw this as an embracing of the democratic values that america loves and so the Brotherhood won the first ever free elections in Egypt, because nobody else stood a chance! I have written here repeatedly that democracy is not "one person, one vote, one time" and in fact elections do not equal democracy, they are the result of democracy - something that has to be understood by the state & citizenship and ingrained into the national psyche, as it in Israel. What happened in Egypt was that a non democratic group of Islamic extremists manipulated democratic ideas to gain power. Obama had no choice, but to to back "democratically elected" Morsi, even after he granted himself semi-dictatorial powers after only 5 months into his year in office. This was a year marked by government censorship, and anti Christian racism as well as one of having no answers to Egypt's rapidly declining economy which led to 22,000,000 Egyptians signing a petition calling for his resignation! Obama's not so calculated risk could have even ended the Egyptian / Israeli peace agreement, and may well would have, without the non democratic influence of Egypt's military!

When the massive anti-Morsi protests hit the streets a couple of weeks ago, Obama and his new (light weight) secretary of state John Kerry, had little to say, and only when the Egyptian army stepped in did Obama make a halfhearted statement in support of Egypt's now cancelled democracy that had never really existed in the first place, thanks to US supporting Morsi! What a mess. Its interesting to note (as several Israeli newspaper editorials did this past week) that two years ago the Egyptian army interceded to oust Mubarak only after the Obama administration turned against him. Now that same military have totally ignored Obama and ousted Morsi (and this despite the fact that congress may be forced by its own rules to block further aid to Egypt's ailing economy until democracy is 'restored'!)  - how the mighty US has fallen in a year.

Looking across the Middle East, Obama has failed to tackle or understand the growing threat represented by Iran, or even place them under enough pressure to slow them down, which has allowed Iran the room to continue its drive to dominate the Arab world and fill the vacuum left by Egypt's demise, interfere in Lebanon, Syria and Turkey not to mention provide the support Hamas needs to maintain its Fortress Gaza policy & prosecute its terrorist war against Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

In Syria Obama has been shown to be weak and ineffectual when faced by an emasculated UN and

intransigent Russia - where is the decisive foreign policy of a superpower protecting its foreign interests and human rights? You would think it was the USA that had collapsed 20 years ago & not the USSR / Russia! The Obama administration's failure not only to act but to even formulate a coherent policy toward Syria has in part led to the death of 100,000 people, the further arming of Hezbollah, the involvement of Al Qaeda in Syria, the gradual destabilization of Lebanon and even a possibility of Turkey, Israel & Jordan being dragged reluctantly into the conflict. It has also created a huge refugee crisis.

Meanwhile what has Hilary Clinton's replacement as Secretary of State been focused on over the past few months? Well yes...The Middle East issue - but unfortunately the wrong one - Kerry has spent a huge amount of time racking up air miles in an unprecedented shuttle diplomacy attempt to reignite the long stalled Israel / Palestinian peace process!! He declares that he has made "real progress" - This despite the clear and obvious signs that now is not a time when the Palestinian side is in a position or mind set to enter talks - it is deeply split between Fatah and Hamas, the Palestinian Authority is unable to hold internal elections, its President's mandate having ended years ago and its current leadership vacuum in its Prime Minister's office. it is telling that literally as Kerry flew back to the US, talking about his successful talks with the Palestinians and their willingness to enter negotiations, Palestinian president Abbas was busy on Palestinian TV, honoring a terrorist leader, with the blood of multiple Israelis, including many children, on his hands   - this incitement is a direct snub to Obama & Congress, which has long criticized the Palestinians over incitement and the glorification of terrorists. Meanwhile on the Israeli side, the new Netanyahu government has other more pressing & divisive internal issues to focus on, before it will want to enter the politically difficult and contentious  [and quite probably fruitless talks] with the Palestinians. 

So while the Arab Spring turns into another Arab Disaster; Iran heads towards nuclear arms and consequential conflict with Israel & other Mid East states; and in Syria (where Iran where not coincidentally, is interfering) the mass slaughter continues, threatening the entire region, John Kerry is wasting his time on an issue that should not (at this time) be even close to the top of his agenda and its not as if he is making headway! A few years ago, former President Bush was criticized for taking a heavy hand in the Mid East, but at least we can say that he had influence and that right or wrongly, his administration was listened to - Obama has turned US's role into that of a minor player on the word stage and because of that, people are dying - that will be his legacy here and that is unforgivable.

Truth of Israel Exposes Lies of BDS

Its been a bad week for BDS campaigners - already suffering from having their motives questioned even by left wing Peace campaigners and genuine pro-Palestinians, because they exclusively advocate boycotting all things Israeli, defying logic and reason, while 100,000 have been slaughtered in Syria, and 330,000,000 arabs live with limited democratic rights, they see democratic Israel as the evil state of the Mid East, if not the world.  So in defiance of the BDS calls for boycott, yesterd ay my wife and I - and 29,700 others - went to "Teddy Stadium", Jerusalem's newly enlarged sports arena (which now sits 34,000) for the final of the Euro U21 football (soccer) tournament which has been played in Israel this month. The demographic of the crowd would cause BDS haters to lose bladder control -  I sat on a row filled with american visitors (none of whom understood the offside rule!), in front of a group of  Jewish Israeli 12 and

13 year old kids-  whose parents had no concerns about them coming to the game unsupervised - and behind a group of Palestinian youth, who on hearing my english accent , spent several minutes debating Manchester United's future with me, in Hebrew & English. This pretty much reflects the makeup of the crowd at this match and throughout this superb tournament and quite frankly, is pretty much a  microcosm of life in Jerusalem

If this wasn't enough to have BDS bigots & fanatics reaching for the adult diapers, we had Formula 1 cars racing through the streets of Jerusalem last week, with crowds of Israelis and Arabs standing shoulder to shoulder, each making way for the others kids to squeeze through to enjoy the spectacle. 

Last night in Jerusalem - in celebration of Israel's 89 year old President - Barbra Streisand has finally come to the Jewish state, while America's former President, Bill Clinton & daughter Chelsea (+ Jewish husband)  were spotted praying at the Western Wall - one can feel BDS fanatics  worldwide chomping on their antacids - add to that the savaging in the press by the pop duo the Pet Shop Boys & Alicia Keys dismissal of their rantings - and one can imagine hospitals around the world prepping for an influx of hypertensive, incontinent Israel hating fanatics! 

All this activity has brought the world press to Israel, and not the usual jaded Middle East journos, but rather a broad range of sports and entertainments writers - you can see the result of this in a rash of stories about day to day Israeli life and recent achievements they've spotted in their free time. This is the last thing BDS crusaders want - they peddle in lies - they lie about their real objective, they lie about the situation on the ground in Israel and they lie about Israel & Palestinian history. Press stories exposing what life is really like in israel is a disaster for them - they don't want people knowing more, they want them knowing less, allowing BDS hate to fill that void of ignorance with their lies.

They lie about "apartheid" - and mixed arab Jewish events in Israel demonstrate that clearly; they lie about 'peace' being their objective - it isn't - destruction of Israel is their objective, whilst two state solution ideas cause them to vomit - indeed we have seen in the past that BDS supporters go out of their way to undermine palestinian leaders who move toward negotiations - for example  writing in the Guardian, Clayton Swisher, head of Al Jazeera’s Transparency Unit & BDS supporter,  referred to the then advanced state of negotiations as “a peace process run amok.” !! A peace agreement with Israel would not only mean a future for the Palestinians, but also for Israel - they don't want any  future for "the illegal Zionist entity" and they have no problem with lengthening the Palestinian suffering across the Middle East that they pretend to be motivated by.

So lets make it clear - BDS fanatics are NOT pro-Palestinian, they're ANTI-Israel - they know that talking about apartheid, gender cleansing and any other slur they can find is at best an extreme exaggeration and at worst a downright blatant lie, but they don't care - talking about the real issues and problems creates conversation and ideas, which in turn can lead to negotiations. 

Before I end this on a positive note, let's not forget the hypocrisy of BDS - they call on you to boycott all things Israeli from fruit to orchestras, sports to science, but do their leaders boycott Israel, avoiding its contributions to the world the way a vegan avoids animal products? BDS hypocrites have made no suggestion of not using Google, despite it's recent our chase of Waze (the Zionist GPS!), I've never heard any suggestion that BDS urges people not to use disk-on-keys (Zionist technology!) or any other important Israeli invention. They are liars & hypocrites who cause  harm & unemployment to Palestinians and manipulate other well meaning people into doing the same. Their policy isn't new! 

So wheres the positive: Its Israel!! BDS are a pathetic failure - Israel an incredible success - its a success in democracy, its a success militarily, its a success economically, its a success culturally. Utopia it is not - there are very real difficult issues, but the BDS haters are not talking about them, so they are not talking about real solutions - if you genuinely want to see life improve for israelis & of course palestinians, then put your ideas out there - but don't be taken in by hatred - no answers lie in hate. In the meantime look at Israel & its contributions that so outweigh its small size and population - what an achievement for Zionism!  

The Palestinians, badly treated by the Arab world, must turn to Israel to build a lasting future

The Palestinians have no friends in the Arab world - they are to some states pawns, to others parasites and to yet others, the "untouchables" of the arab world - Across the Middle East the so called 'refugees' are denied passports & citizenship by the countries they, their fathers  and grandfathers were born in. The aim, aside from clear racism and lack of basic humanity, seems to remain the same since 1948 - the politicization of the Palestinians: 

"The Arab states do not want to solve the refugee problem. They want to keep it an open sore, as an affront to the UN and as a weapon against Israel. Arab leaders don't give a damn whether the refugees live or die." Ralph Galloway, former Director of UNRWA, August 1958 

Arafat himself said "We refuse to talk about the resettlement of refugees [where they are currently living] because this is a crime….It is the Palestinians' right to return to their homeland." Yasser Arafat, Al-Quds (Palestinian newspaper) September 11, 1999

Arab states treatment of the Palestinians born in these countries - their countries -  is beyond awful - it is deeply racist - in Lebanon they can not own property or study any course of higher education or professional qualification;   Saudi Arabia, during their labor shortage of the 1970s and 80s , chose to employ foreign workers rather than resident unemployed Palestinians.

In fact, it often seems that the only time Arab states even pay lip service to Palestinian concerns is when they are connected to Israel. 

Meanwhile, the Palestinians themselves, kept poverty bound and stateless in their 'refugee camps' (essentially a policy of Nazi era style ghetto-ization) are taught that all their woes are because of "Zionists" who caused this Nakba (calamity). They are taught to hate from kindergarten -" Zionism caused your problems...Zionism is evil...one day the Zionist state will fall" say their Arab "brothers" and the Palestinians know no different. They hate the Zionists, believing with great faith, the Pallywood lies of apartheid, genocide and child murder.They see Israel as the perpetrator of the horrors in truth are occurring daily in virtually every other state in the Middle East APART from Israel! They see no irony in Israel being the only country in the Middle East where all its citizens, including Arabs, have the rights 330,000,000 other arabs can only dream of; They probably never hear that israel is the safe haven for minorities persecuted in Palestinian society (gays, Druze, Bahai, christians etc) - they only know that their Arab brothers say everything bad is Israel's fault - look at Twitter: Syria is a zionist plot, riots against Morsi in Egypt - Israel caused that; Hamas persecution & oppression - if Israel wasnt there it wouldnt happen; 9/11 - Mossad - even the Japanese tsunami is widely believed in Arab world to have been caused by Zionism.

The truth however is that for them to have any future, it can only be with Israel. The Arab states hold no solutions for the people against whom they have perpetrated a racist crime against humanity for 65 years, and if & when a Palestinian state is born, they'll offer little more than lip service. More than likely they will expel their Palestinian 'refugees' forcing millions of people to emigrate to the tiny Palestinian state which will be unable to receive them.

A future Palestinian state will need port access, it will need water , gas and oil, food even. That isn't going to come from Lebanon or Syria, and probably not too much from Jordan - only Israel can provide the trade agreements that Palestine will need - without Israel they will be doomed - indeed as I have already said, if the Arab states unload their refugees on this state, it will be doomed anyway and Israel will find itself with a worse situation on its hands than it currently faces.

Further more, the Palestinian position in the Arab world became weaker as Israel recently became a gas producer, and shortly will be the 3rd largest gas and oil exporter in the Middle East. The oil producing Arab states are aware of this and are already signalling a shift in their entrenched positions toward Israel, with some of their smaller allies and proxies trading openly with the Zionist entity. Iran (not an Arab country) is making a power-play for political control and influence within the Arab world, and has chosen Israel as the method of gaining that power - this too makes it worthwhile for those Arab states ranged against Iran, to change their position on Israel. All this does not bode well for the Palestinians, whose policy - sometimes stated, sometimes not - has always been "all or nothing" - they have avoided negotiations on final settlement agreements even when they have had this in their hands, because  they have sold their people the lie that there really is only a one state solution - Palestine - after all, how can they tell the people they are making a deal with the source of all evil? So Arafat started an intifada rather than sign an agreement, and Abbas twists and turns, offering any reason and objection he can find why he can't negotiate. 

There is a glimmer of hope in all this for both Israel & the Palestinians - the possibility, rarely mentioned, of a regional agreement. As Arab states start to need Israel more than they need it gone, they may become more able to pressure the Palestinians to the table, more willing to offer citizenship to 2nd and 3rd generation 'refugees' born in their countries. This offers Israel the security guarantees that it seeks, and opens for the Palestinian state the opportunity for trade and goods to travel through their small country. Its a small window of hope, and if this doesn't come to be, I see no future for the Palestinian people, who history will probably judge as a people who, in the words of Israeli elder statesman, the late Abba Eban  "never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity"

The Lowest Kind of Jew Hatred: Silencing The Holocaust

Over and over we hear the slogan "I'm not antisemitic, I'm anti Zionist" - let me clarify one thing at the start - if you are "anti Israel's policies" then that does not make you antisemitic, but as soon as you say you declare that you are anti the very concept of Jews having a state (antizionist) then, yes, you are almost certainly an antisemite.

In any case, today is Israel's holocaust memorial day, known as Yom HaShoa. Its a day when radio's play no music, flags fly at half mast, and just minutes ago, at 10am here in Israel, sirens sound for two minutes and the entire country stood, heads bowed, on buses, airports, shopping malls..in factories, during meetings, in homes..it makes no difference, all citizens of the Jewish state share the collective pain of the methodical slaughter of 6,000,000 Jews by the Nazis. The loss of almost half of all the Jews living at that time is still felt today and always will be in this country forged by survivors: Last night six aging survivors lit memorial flames at the national memorial 
ceremony. These six people had settled in Israel after the war and between them had around 12 children, 30 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren. How many Jews were never born because of the loss of the 6,000,000? What contributions to Judaism, art, literature, science and world economy would those 60 or 70 million people have made? We mourn this too. It is unfathomable that the Holocaust would not be deeply ingrained into the national psyche of the Jewish people, and of course the Jewish state and beggars belief that anyone should not understand and respect this, or worse could resent it.

Turn then to our enemies, who use holocaust and Nazi imagery to describe so many debates conflicts or clashes they have with Israel and Zionism: Minor's arrested for stone throwing = Fascist Zionists; Israel returns Hamas fire = Nazi genocide; Gaza =  a concentration camp; Bibi is compared with Hitler and so on. If this cheapening of what the holocaust was and stealing its imagery for propaganda against Jews were not enough, yesterday (on the eve of Holocaust day)  we saw Israel's enemies launch a cyber attack on Israel called 'Op Israel' - admittedly this effort was an embarrassing failure for the not so 'anonymous' hackers, but never the less, it is telling that their tagline was "silencing Israel" and their websites did not contain political messages, but extreme Islamic ones. What was sickening is that one of the handful of websites they managed to bring down was an NGO working with children with cancer, and the most extreme effort of the day was against Yad Vashem, the holocaust memorial & educational organization. They wanted to bring down the world's most important holocaust site hours before Yom HaShoa - how is that political? How is that about building a Palestinian future? It is an attack not on Israel - it is an attack on the Jewish people, an effort to tell them that 70 years after the holocaust, there are still people out there that want Jews gone, that they want talk of the holocaust silenced. 

Perhaps they fear the images of a people little more than walking skeletons in 1945, beating the combined arab armies 3 years later in Israel? Perhaps the religious Islamists see the hand of G-d in the Jews remarkable survival and subsequent success and they seek to dispel their fear with denial. I don't know, but I do know that stealing the holocaust, using its imagery against the Jewish state and worse seeking to deny it occurred, silencing it's websites - essentially attempt to rip the holocaust away from the Jewish people, I know that this has nothing to do with Israel & The Palestinians, nothing to do with final agreements or settlements - it is hatred of Jews and anything that may give the wider world an understanding of the Jewish people - it  is antisemitism in its purest, Jew hating form.

Some Questions for Ireland's Teachers- Educators No More!

I am incensed by the decision of Ireland's teaching union's call for an academic boycott of Israel. Why has this particular BDS absurdity caused me to put pen to paper (well..finger to keypad anyway) ? Because this is a group of people who are supposed to be ! As Malcolm Forbes (Forbes Magazine) put it "Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one." . So I want to post a few open questions to Irish teachers:

1. Why did the difficult and complex situation in Israel lead you to make a decision to boycott just one side of this issue? The Palestinian Authority are clearly avoiding talks, while Hamas, the other half of Palestinian society, are committed to genocide. Why did you not decided to at LEAST "knock heads together" and boycott both sides until things improve! I might disagree with the moral equivalency but I'd have some respect for this position.

2. When you looked at the oppression of civilians, the various conflicts, rogue states, and state human rights abuses occurring worldwide, why would any reasonable group of people (never mind a union of educators!) single out Israel? I'm not saying Israel is without fault and has not made mistakes in this difficult region in which it exists, but  Israel is a genuine democracy, offering freedoms and rights for 65 years, denied to 330,000,000 Arab citizens in the Middle East (including to Palestinians by their own leaders, as well as by Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and other states). Let me emphasize that Israel's democracy (free elections, media, judiciary etc) extends to the 20% of Israeli's who are not Jewish and was recently on display in elections which saw both Arab & Jews elected to the Knesset! It also included women, who enjoy full rights in Israel, a country that elected  a female prime minister over a decade before Britain did the same ( and something Ireland has never done) , whilst in comparison,Saudi Arabia's women can now ride bicycles (with some major restrictions), but cant drive cars of course.

3. As educators, I must ask you how you can boycott the country that made significant steps to improve Palestinian education over the years prior to the Palestinians own PA taking over? Are you aware that Israel built seven universities & college of higher education in the West Bank after capturing it in a defensive war from Jordan (who did not build a single educational institute for Palestinians prior to 1967). Palestinian illliteracy was at 50% under Jordan, but by 1980 it was at 30% under Israel, and by the time the Palestinian Authority was formed it was at just 15% West Bank adults! In contrast Lebanon's racist anti-Palestinian laws forbid them from higher education or professional training. Has the Irish teachers union considered boycotting that country?

4. Are the members of the union aware of the legislated anti-Palestinian racism of Lebanon, which resembles 1930s anti Jewish laws? I would hate to accuse anyone of rank hypocrisy, but I'll give it a go anyway: If the Irish teachers are so concerned about Palestinians, surely they would be incensed at this ongoing crime against humanity? The fact that they choose to ignore it and focus on Israel, leads me to suspect that this whole "boycott" is about hating Israel rather than helping Palestinians, something I wrote about a year ago.

4. Do you understand that you damage Ireland's educational institutions when you stop working with one of the most important high tech & medical innovators in the world? For one thing, Israel is leading the world in the fight against cancer and Ireland's teachers are opting out of sharing in that vital work! Israel has recently helped cure River Blindness blighting 100,000s africans, its  disaster relief teams are always first on the scene worldwide, and share their expertise with anyone who will listen (so no longer Ireland !), its hi-tech innovations have changed the world: cell phone technology, intel chips, usb drives, even acne cream for spotty teens! 
 When the Irish teachers boycott Israeli academic institutions but continue to make use of the many benefits and advances Israel has provided the world  students are going to see the hypocrisy, apply some critical analysis and their relationship with Ireland's educator's will suffer, which is truly sad. Of course, by then, this boycott will have hurt them, damaging their country;s ability to participate in the innovation's that Israel leads the world in. Bottom line, Who the hell do the Irish teacher's think they are hurting when they decide not to work in cooperation with Israel?

Aristotle wrote that It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it -  Supporting this boycott is not anti Israel - it is anti education! You may say "but  the Palestinians need a resolution; Israel does things i don't like etc" but as I said above, when you look at countries like China, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, various African states, Iran, Pakistan etc, and you decide to that it is Israel, struggling to survive as a democracy in the most unfriendly, antisemitic region in the world, that you will select as the sole state you abhor enough to not share ideas with, you stand exposed as a prejudiced hypocrite not an educator. You have nothing to offer your students - a hater and a closed mind never does.

What Real Zionism is All About

Israel's cruder enemies like to define Zionism as being about  controlling the media, controlling banks, colonizing vast areas of Arabia and so on. This is a blatant distortion, indeed blatant antisemitism, that shares little with actual Zionism. Israel's more intellectual enemies often seem to confuse the work and policies of the democratically elected governments of the State of Israel with Zionism in general, which is unfair as the two are by and large unrelated - this explains how  a passionate Zionist can be for or against  settlement in Judea and Samaria, and other policies of Israel. This should not be difficult to understand: There are many Republican Americans, who deeply love their country and the principles for which it stands, whilst been strongly antithetical to the current incumbent of the White House, Democrat Barak Obama.

What Zionism always was, and still is truly about is the in-gathering of the Jewish people in our ancient homeland of Israel. In today's world its also about connecting the Jewish diaspora with Israel, so that for Jews who don't live in Israel, they feel a deep, intimate and lasting connection with this country. While Zionists, as part of their passion for Israel, may argue current affairs connected to Israel, as part of their Zionism, many others will have little interest in these issues, focusing instead on social welfare, or education.

As I've written previously, I am a passionate Zionist, someone who believes strongly in the idea of a Jewish Israel  as being the only option for long term Jewish survival and growth. My Zionism has and does express itself in various ways - this blog is an example of the political side of my Zionism, but in truth I have always been at heart a Jewish educator, wanting to encourage young Jewish people to learn our ancient language, and walk in the footsteps of our ancestors. The other  most obvious expression of my personal Zionism is my decision to "make aliyah" - move to Israel - and become an Israeli myself. 

My work in Israel has always been involved in furthering Zionism in some way - I presented a daily radio show aimed at supporting English speakers in Israel and to encourage Jews overseas to connect with the community here; I worked for The Jewish Agency for Israel, helping raise funds for various Jewish communal projects, in Israel and overseas; and more recently I took up  my current post as social media manager for one of the largest Birthright organizers in Israel. Taglit-Birthright Israel is as pure an expression of Zionism as exists: A partnership between the Jewish Agency,  the State of Israel and Jewish philanthropists, Birthright brings 10,000s of young Jewish adults who have never been to Israel on an organised program, to Israel on a 10 day free trip. Its an astonishing gift, which is succeeding in ensuring an entire generation of Jews from American and around the world will come to this country, travel it, hang out with Israelis of their own age, eat its food and be surrounded by its music, language and culture. Its aims are simply to make that connection - to understand the country beyond the CNN reports, their temple's history lessons and the Pallywood propaganda.

This summer once again 40,000+ young Jews will travel the length & breadth of Israel, recognizing the achievement of Zionism in taming what was a barren, unproductive wilderness, and the success of the Israeli people in building a vibrant open democracy in a region where the rights ordinary Israelis enjoy, where Jew or Arab, are rarities. Israel's population is not even 8,000,000, surrounded by 350,000,000 arabs, yet it leads the Middle East in hi tech development, medical research, entrepreneurship, university graduation,  patent application and even basic literacy. Walk the land is all Birthright is saying - see what Jews have built here, and you will forever be connected to this place and the people who built it.

Thats what Zionism is about - having young Jews stand in Israel, connect to its people and understand their place in the Jewish people.

Iran - Destabilizing the Arab World, Threatening The World

Ever listen to a TV debate that gets out of hand? All the argument, logic, ideas etc get lost in the noise. People watching feel a surge of emotion toward the 'side' they favor and the result may be a polarization of ideas that might not have existed had their been an open honest debate instead of an angry argument.

In the hysterical ravings of the Iranian state, the 'reasoning' of the situation seems to have been lost in fears of the building of Iran's nuclear capability and its egregious antisemitism. When did anyone on the media stop and consider context in all of this? Why exactly is Iran saber rattling and provoking conflict with Israel? The two countries do not share a border, and Iran is not even an Arab state, so what is in it for them?

I don't claim to be an expert on Iranian politics, but living in Israel  I have tried to understand why Iran has such a need to provoke Israel. It has long been known that the Islamic regime wants to spread its influence as far as it can, but it has had to overcome some serious barriers to that ambition: The traditional distrust, even racism, between the Persian and Arab world was a a huge wall the ayatollahs have had to get passed; In addition Saddam's Iraq was the cork in Iran's bottle, keeping a lot of resources of the Iranian genie trapped and focused on their dangerous foe. Once George Bush had removed that enemy, Iran was freed from imminent danger, and really begun to spread its influence.

The Islamic world is deeply divided, full of hatred, violence even war, but there are certain areas of agreement - hatred of the US & the West and hatred of the only western state in the Middle East, Israel. As I said above, Iran share's no border with Israel  so instead it has slowly gained influence in those countries that do: Its primary ally in that regard has been Assad in Syria (obviously of diminished use these days). Additionally Iran funded the Hezbollah terror army, who have virtually taken over Lebanon, creating their own private, superbly equipped army in that country, even replacing the legitimate Lebanese army along Lebanon's long border with Israel! Iran has also supported and armed Hamas, who control the independent Palestinian enclave in Gaza. 

This Hamas takeover of Gaza, funded by Iran,  essentially stole from the Palestinians the opportunity that Israel's unilateral withdrawal had presented: A stable Gaza producing economic growth and improved standard of living would have shown the world what a Palestinian state might look like. It would have put Israel & the Palestinians  under enormous pressure to negotiate a settlement in the West Bank, that might well have led to full Palestinian independence. That scenario did not fit with Iran's policy of gaining influence in the Arab world - after all the western interests would have been for any peace between Israel & Palestinians to last, which means that Hezbollah destabilizing the situation would not have been tolerated. So instead, funded by Iran, Hamas made a grab for power, throwing out the PA from Gaza, and essentially declaring genocidal war on Israel. Not good for Israel, not good for Palestinians or the region, but definitely good for Iran!

However, a pan Arab agreement that 'Israel is bad' is not enough of a platform for Iran to become a dominant influence in the Arab world - that would take hatred of western values: democracy, education, gender equality, freedom of speech and so on. Iran invested years in taking over and developing the Islamic Brotherhood, creating infrastructure and grassroots support in several Arab states, waiting for, or even creating the catalyst for the inevitable overthrow of Arab  dictators. The power vacuum the Arab Spring created opened the door for Islamists to gain legitimacy and power - the greatest example of the success of this policy is of course Pres. Morsi in Egypt, which this week pays host to Iran's Pres. Ahmadinejad. The influence of Iranian backed Islamists can be seen a cross the Middle East. remaining Arab heads of states stare nervously at the Islamists, alternately  appeasing or oppressing in what is more often than not a futile effort to stamp out Iran's influence in their country.

Iran is a state staking its future on standing as the leader of the Arab world, creating an international block the west will find it hard to ignore. We need to remember that the Ayatollah's founded their country in hatred of the west, (you only have to watch Argo to be reminded of how this country felt about the US at its outset), and that feeling has deepened into the country's psyche. I don't believe that Israel matters to Iran in any meaningful way aside from deep rooted antisemitism - what threat would Israel present to that country? - no, Israel is a tool for Iranian ambition, and of course an outlet for the anger that suppression of the Iranian people has created. The US & its allies must block these decisively, because make no mistake, if Iran is successful, the repercussions worldwide will be no less significant than the communist takeover of Russia or Hitler's becoming chancellor of Germany.