Iran first?

In an interview just before his State of the Union Address, Pres. Obama admitted that he had misjudged the difficulty of resolving the Israel-Arab conflict. During his Address it was noted that Pres. Obama did not mention the "peace process." Given that this was one of his major foreign policy initiatives, and that he was on record as believing that if this conflict was resolved other conflicts in the Middle East, such as Iraq and Iran, would then follow suit, this could augur a definite and meaningful turnaround.

Obama's National Security advisor Gen. James Jones said in a speech on Friday that Iran may use Hamas in Gaza and Hizbollah in Lebanon to "lash out" at Israel, as a result of being under pressure both from internal anti-regime forces and external sanctions applied because of its nuclear weapons program. So this once again raises the strategy of "Iran first." Perhaps the Obama Administration have adopted this policy without actually saying so.

PA Pres. Abbas's security advisor Fahmi Shabaneh admitted in an interview with the Jerusalem Post on Friday that the PA is totally corrupt, that there has been no changeover of leadership since Yasir Arafat died, and that there is a high likelihood that Hamas will eventually take over the West Bank. This is one reason why Abbas is placing obstacles in the path of the "peace process," refusing to negotiate with Israel until there is a building freeze extended to Jerusalem, that he knows can't happen. By placing such pre-conditions on his participation, Abbas puts off the day when Hamas will gain popular support and take control in Ramallah, and he also subverts Obama's attempts to renew the negotiations.

Obama probably thought he had an understanding with the Palestinians and the Arab States, that the Americans would get Israel to make a major concession, such as a building freeze and then they would respond positively. Well, if that was his understanding it didn't happen, because the Arabs will never compromise or respond positively to any Israeli concession. So Obama came out empty-handed, and like several other of his policies, he is now forced to retreat and reevaluate.

Maybe the Americans have come to the logical conclusion, if Hizbollah and Hamas are proxies of Iran and can upset the applecart of the "peace process" any time and since Hamas governs nearly half of the Palestinians and will never compromise, and Abbas of Fatah is weak, indecisive and corrupt, what then is the choice? One must deal with "Iran first" if there is to be any progress in the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Without Iranian support what could Hamas and Hizbollah do? If only Obama would get on with it and apply harsh sanctions on Iran, rather than dithering around and talking about it ad nauseam.