BOSTON GLOBE
by Alan Dershowitz
November 1, 2014

A SENIOR Obama administration official recently told journalist Jeffrey Goldberg that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a “chickenshit.” A second senior official also reportedly called Netanyahu a “coward” on the issue of Iran’s nuclear threat. If these reports are accurate, did the Obama administration — indeed perhaps President Obama himself — authorize the officials to issue these highly provocative statements? The White House has tried to distance itself from the remarks, but it seems unlikely that two senior administration officials would use such explosive words without White House approval.

Goldberg says that this is the way American and Israeli officials now talk about each other behind closed doors. But these statements were not made behind closed doors. They were made to a prominent journalist, with the intention of having them published and read not only by American and Israeli officials, but also by Iranian officials. That question becomes particularly important in light of another quotation attributed to one of the senior officials. “It’s too late for him [Netanyahu] to do anything [regarding a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities]. Two three years ago, this was a possibility. But ultimately he couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger. It was a combination of our pressure and his own unwillingness to do anything dramatic. Now it’s too late.”

“The feeling now is that Bibi’s bluffing . . . he’s not Begin at Osirak.” This disclosure of such classified administration assessments — whether true or false — will certainly be welcomed in Tehran. It strengthens the Iranian bargaining position, and weakens the power of the United States to demand more of Iran in the ongoing nuclear negotiations, and to demand more of our allies in the event these negotiations break down and additional sanctions are needed. Goldberg acknowledges that “the Obama administration used the threat of an Israeli strike in a calculated way to convince its allies (and some of its adversaries) to line up behind what turned out to be an effective sanctions regime.” By now revealing its belief that there is no longer a real threat of an Israeli strike — again whether their assessment is correct or incorrect — these senior officials have done considerable damage to security of the United States and to the possibility of striking an effective deal with Iran……

READ MORE