Ilan Berman
Washington Times, May 5, 2023
“America has the capability to deal with the Iranian nuclear threat, but it doesn’t have the political will to do so. Israel, by contrast, is in the opposite position; it has sufficient will, but lacks the capability to deal with the Iranian threat in a lasting fashion.”
The Islamic Republic of Iran has long represented the most significant strategic challenge facing Israel. Today, despite years of persistent focus, as well as a range of covert initiatives to erode Iranian military and technological capabilities, that threat has grown significantly more acute. As a result, the Jewish state is fast approaching a critical juncture in its Iran policy.
As I heard on a recent fact-finding trip to the country, two things are drawing this fateful moment closer.
The first is Iran’s own accelerating nuclear advances. The country was recently discovered to have enriched uranium to 84% purity, just shy of the “red line” of 90% that has been drawn by successive Israeli leaders. That development demonstrates serious, sustained nuclear progress on the part of the Islamic Republic — progress that has taken place notwithstanding the massive economic and political pressure leveled against Iran by the West in recent years.
The second is the bankruptcy of the current U.S. approach to the threat from Iran. The Biden administration took office promising to scupper the “maximum pressure” policy of its predecessor and reengage diplomatically with Iran as a way of curtaining its regional menace. More than a year on, the White House remains committed to resuscitating the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the West — even though, Israeli experts say, it is abundantly clear that for the Iranian side, this is now a “dead issue.”
