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Obama to Iran: If Israel Attacks, We Won’t Get Involved

The Blaze

The Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot published a startling report Monday detailing a message it says was conveyed by the Obama administration – via two European countries – to Iranian officials. The request: if Israel decides to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, the U.S. will not support it and the Islamic Republic should refrain from retaliating on U.S. military installations in the Persian Gulf.

From the report by the well-connected diplomatic correspondent Shimon Schiffer [translated via hard copy by The Blaze in Israel]:

The message that the U.S. conveyed to Iran via the most sensitive secret channels is unequivocal: if Israel attacks, we won’t stand behind her and we won’t be drawn into war.

In recent days, senior American administration officials turned to their Iranian counterparts via two countries in Europe which act as a back-channel during times of crisis. They made clear to the Iranians that the U.S. does not intend to be sucked into a campaign if Israel decides to strike unilaterally and without advance coordination [with the U.S.], and they said that they expect from Iran that it will not attack strategic American targets in the Persian Gulf. That means, among other things, Army bases, Navy ships and aircraft carriers sailing in the region.

Accompanying the article, the newspaper created a graphic map (pictured above) of various U.S. assets in the region including troops in Afghanistan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia as well as U.S. vessels in the Gulf.

The secret contacts with the Iranians combined with a public statement last week by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey that he won’t be “complicit” in an Israeli attack is being interpreted in Israel as a message from the U.S. that the Jewish state is on its own in stopping Iran from obtaining a doomsday weapon with which to threaten the very existence of Israel. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other Iranian leaders have articulated a desire to wipe Israel off the map. Schiffer writes:

Israeli sources point to the unprecedented low-point in relations between the U.S. and Israeli defense establishments. It appears that the Obama administration decided to warn decision-makers in Israel of the destructive results of an attack without coordinating with the U.S. […]

If true, the report begs the question: If he truly wants to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapons capability, why is President Obama investing in secret contacts with Iran about an Israeli strike aimed at destroying – or at least setting back – the nuclear program? Wouldn’t his efforts be better focused on warning Ahmadinejad of the dire consequences of his apparently accelerated efforts at one day possessing a military nuclear capability?

The Wall Street Journal may have an answer in an editorial this weekend. Though President Obama likes to say he has Israel’s “back,” “his Administration tries to sell to the public a make-believe world in which Iran’s nuclear intentions are potentially peaceful, sanctions are working and diplomacy hasn’t failed after three and half years.”

Also on Monday, The New York Times reported that President Obama is trying to find non-military ways to stall an Israeli attack and restrain Iran’s nuclear march, including naval exercises and new antimissile systems in the Persian Gulf. The Times reports that Obama officials are also considering implementing previously rejected covert activities as well as a new declaration by the president over what would prompt a U.S. military strike.

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28 Comments

  • this is scary stuff

    This presient and his administration are a major threat to Jews around the world and indeed, the world itself. We must, all of us, do our part to keep this evil man out of the white house for 4 more years. This has nothing to do with politics. It’s plain and simple a matter of Pikuach Nefesh for Jews and others. DARE WE KEEP SILENT ABOUT THS MAN ACTIONS AND INTENTIONS?

  • Samuel

    This is just election year propaganda. Obama will do whatever is necessary to protect Israel — that’s part of why he’s giving Egypt a billion dollars. And if Iran was stupid enough to attack, the US would aid Israel in retaliating swiftly and severely.

  • To No. 2 - Samuel

    You are not living in the real world. This is a leak of a secret, not a political position openly taken by Obama. Further the article is talking about if Israel attacks, not if Iran attacks. But Israel doesn’t need the United States to fight Israel’s battles. That’s Hashem’s job and he is more reliable.

  • 1942 all over again

    How can any Jew vote for this man???? Jewish blood is too cheap in his eyes. Obama prefers arab oil and JEWISH MONEY TO FINANCE his campaign.
    When the Nazi party rose to power some progressive Jews gave funding because they wanted to have good friends who have their back. David Axelrod and company would sell their grandma for political advancement. He looks like Henry Kissinger because both sold their people for political advancement, GEVALT

  • Our best friend

    The lesson is clear vote for Obama he is waiting to catch Israel when it c’v falls on its back

  • Realist Jew

    This is just election year propaganda indeed. Trying to get the Jewish vote to swing to Mitt. It’s all about getting votes. Just get the votes and get in office and don’t do most of what you promised to the people. That’s politics for ya!

  • Proud Jew

    To Samuel, wake up and smell the coffee buddy. Stop always trying to defend this president. He has made his intentions clear from his first speech in Cairo. He prefers to appease his enemies( The Arabs) than defend his allies. He is bad news. Stop convincing yourself of things you hope he will do, when his words and actions clearly indicate he does not care about Israel. Please share this though with all your liberal living in their fantasy land.

  • bs d

    bs”d

    dont worry so much romneys coming in!

    k’siva vachasimah tovah l’shanah tovah um’sukah!!

  • Hopeful

    To #2 are you insane!! This public servant was NEVER AND WILL NEVER BE A FRIEND OF ISRAEL, get off the propaganda deal and your dream of this person backing up Israel, he is the Pharoah in our times.. please just start davening to Hashem to get this man out of the White House!!

  • DeClasse- Intellectual

    this is no major news development–it just took such a long time to be reported. He has told Abbass already–as if people did not know–that Abbass would have his Palestine state based upon the 1967 borders and Israel would have no choice but to accept it.
    What is worse is that all these so-called independet minded and liberal Jews who will fall all over Obama and vote for him even though he has demonstrated repeatedly that he, Obama, is anti-Israel. Obama’s administration will not acknowledge that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel as of this date and will not acknowledge the Jewish historical claim to the Holy land but contends they only came there after WWII as displaced refugees.
    While Rommeny might not be a sweetheart, he has at least called Jerusalem the capital of israel and has recognized that the Jews have a legitimate claim to the land for thousands of years.

  • It-s a positive thing

    Israel is never so courageous and effective as when it stops relying on the US and knows that it must fight on its own steam (with H-shem’ help).

  • To Number 4

    Not sure why you refer to Operation Nickel Grass. That only underscores that Israel was indeed on its own. The Nixon Administration openly stated that it resupplied Israel in Operation Nickel Grass because if not Israel may have resorted to use of nuclear weapons to save its existence.

  • Ephraim Grushnit

    To #2 What else is new:
    It is nonsense to say that the state of Israel has been on its own since 1948: ever since the declaration of independence the US have been supporting Israel politically, economically and militarily.

  • Realist Jew

    Majority of Americans don’t want another war.Israel have nukes. Why can’t they defend its self if they have nukes. Senior military officials are the ones in Obama ear giving advice.

  • To Number 4

    Operation Nickel Grass just underlines that Israel was on its own. The only reason the United States resupplied Israel was because Israel may have resorted to use of nuclear weapons if the United States didn’t.

  • Defcon ready

    To 21:

    The answer to your question may be yes. In the Yom Kippur War, one of the reasons the US pressured Israel to refrain from going all the way to Cairo was because the Russians threatened nuclear war if they did. The US military has a 5 rating level of nuclear imminence called Defcon (Defcon 1 being the most severe). We were at Defcon 2.

  • African said America cannot stop support

    Before Obama got elected, I was on the A line, and a tall African man started conversation with me. He asked me what I thought about Obama possibly becoming president. So, what am I going to say? Look where I am. So I said that he would try to be fair to everyone (very untrue now); a good thing. “But he’s a Moslem.” I said,“Obama says he’s Christian.”
    Anyway, he asked,“What would happen if America stopped supporting Israel?” I replied,“unless you mean miracles, Israel would be in trouble.” “I don’t mean miracles, I mean logic.” I said,“Okay, so tell me.” He said,“America cannot stop supporting Israel because if they did, you would have World War Three, and nobody wants that.”