After some initial problems with his mic, right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Bibi "Bibi Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu today launched into a full-throated attack on the Iran nuclear deal, standing in front of a screen on which were projected images of Iranian documents and photos of nuclear activities seized from a facility in Teheran by Israeli intelligence. While much of the presentation covered the old news of Iran's weapons program and their attempts to lie about it, Netanyahu claimed that the captured documents indicated the Iranians were moving ahead with their nuclear research programs and ballistic missile testing after the agreement was signed in 2015. The timing of the presentation was notable, coming right after French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and British Prime Minister Theresa May have tried to convince neo-fascist demagogue Donald "Rump" Trump to stay in the agreement.
Yesterday, Netanyahu spoke with his close ally Rump to discuss the presentation, and to lobby against recertification, which is due on May 12. Clearly, Netanyahu saw these intense efforts to try to convince Rump (who hates the deal because it's part of the Obama legacy) not to pull out. At the conclusion of his presentation, Netanyahu said confidently that he was sure Rump would do the right thing and pull out of the agreement. Of course, that would mean Iran would likely move ahead aggressively with their nuclear program, likely triggering more sanctions, etc., putting everyone back where we started -- or much worse.
Whenever nuclear weapons in the Middle East are discussed, the elephant in the room is the refusal of Israel to acknowledge that it is the sole nuclear power in the region, with an estimated 400 nuclear warheads, third in the world behind the U.S. and Russia, with ballistic missiles with a range of up to 4,800 km. That's a presentation we'd like to see Bibi Bomb Bomb give.
(photo: CNN. Netanyahu at UN in 2012. This time the production value was improved.)
