This talk was based on reading news sources in Israeli and American Newspapers and on the AIPAC and Simon Wiesenthal Center websites.
Today is Shabbat Zachor, a day designed to help us remember that in every generation enemies have arisen to destroy us and to recognize that we cannot allow ourselves to be fooled into thinking that evil cannot raise its ugly head again. We are getting ready to celebrate Purim, a holiday, that commemorates the fact that an evil anti-Semite, named Haman, desired to annihilate the Jews in the Persian Empire. Purim is a joyous holiday because that plot was foiled by Jews who understood the dictum "that all Jews are responsible for one another." The scheduled massacre that was to have occured on the 13th day of the month of Adar, wiping out the entire Jewish population, became a day on which the opposite happened. By reading the story in Megillat Esther we learn that evil actions happen when good people remain silent. Evil words gain power when they are not confronted by moral citizens. Mordechai and Esther used their words to speak out against Haman and to save their people. One of the lessons of Purim is that hatred unleashed can lead to unthinkable results such as genocide, if good people do not try to avert a pending disaster.
How ironic is it that the story of Persian hatred of Jews is once again foremost in the news? Iran, the site of ancient Persia, has released information on various news websites indicating that Israel should be annihilated along with all of the Jews. The violent rhetoric against Israel and Iran's threats of wiping it off the map cannot be discounted. We know that Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terror and is racing toward a nuclear weapons capability. Through its proxy armies of Hizballah in Southern Lebanon, Hamas in the Gaza Strip and insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Iranian regime is supporting terrorists carrying out daily attacks on American troops and Israeli civilians. Yet, how much does the general public concern itself about this situation? How much does the Jewish community choose to become involved in speaking out against a nuclear Iran.
In a recent letter addressed to Bob Evnen, Congressman Fortenberry wrote that "as co-chairman of the Congressional Nuclear Security Caucus and a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I must report that Iran’s ominous nuclear ambitions are an escalating threat to international stability.
Recently, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad presided over nationalistic ceremonies hailing advances in Iran’s nuclear program, including new centrifuges capable of enriching uranium at faster rates and the insertion of the first domestically produced nuclear fuel rod into a nuclear reactor. Enriched uranium is a primary source of bomb-making fuel. U.S. State Department officials are considering this news mostly “hype,” but I believe it is important to take this seriously as Iran’s continuing march to nuclear development is a significant global security concern. Given the regime’s apocalyptic threats toward Israel and harsh rhetoric against the West, addressing its nuclear ambitions has assumed a new level of importance for policymakers of responsible nations. The U.S. and Europe are taking this seriously; we need nations in Iran’s backyard, like China, Russia, and India, to do the same.
As a signatory to the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Iran has pledged to forego nuclear weapons capability. But last fall, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) issued a report that concluded Iran was unambiguously engaged in activities related to the development of nuclear weapons. Some observers believe that Iran is less than a year away from the ability to develop a nuclear weapon. In 2009, the IAEA reported that Iran had enriched sufficient uranium to build a nuclear weapon. In a recent conversation, the IAEA director confirmed to me the difficulty of ruling out undisclosed weapons site activity.
Having rejected numerous diplomatic attempts to halt this activity, Iran is currently facing four sets of sanctions in the UN Security Council, which require it to suspend its uranium enrichment activities. In early January, the United States imposed sanctions on Iran’s central bank and European Union (EU) foreign ministers agreed upon similar sanctions on January 23.
Russia, China and India, which each maintain significant commercial interests in and ties to Iran, continue to resist expansion of multilateral sanctions. China and India are major purchasers of Iranian oil. As the UN, US, and EU sanctions appear to be having an effect in Iranian society, the time is now for nations like these - who are seeking a more prominent role on the world stage – to pressure Iran’s government to live up to its word on nuclear weapons development."
This week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is meeting with President Obama about the Iranian threat. While in Canada, yesterday, Netanyahu stated that, "Israel wanted to see a 'peaceful solution' to the Iranian crisis, but Tehran must be kept from using the negotiations again to gain more time and advance its nuclear program." To avoid “falling into this trap," Netanyahu said, the international community should place three conditions on Tehran before entering negotiations: Iran must dismantle its nuclear facility at Qom; stop all uranium enrichment inside the country; and remove all uranium already enriched beyond 3.5% out of the country."
I think we all worry about whether or not Israel will feel compelled to make a pre-emptive strike to defend herself against the threats being made by Iran. I think we all care that there is a regime currently in power in Iran that has advanced the same kind of rhetoric as that advanced by the Nazis in World War II. It is impossible, I believe, to dismiss the statements as those of madmen! We know that when a world power threatens to destroy Israel it is speaking about destroying a country that is home to more than 5 million Jews. We know that when the Ayotollah Khomeini releases a statement saying that "Israel is a cancerous tumor" that has to be removed, and plans are laid out on an Iranian website showing how Israel is to be wiped out and all Jews annihilated, that we cannot afford to remain silent on this subject, anymore than Esther was afforded the luxury of standing by as her people were threatened.
I'm not sure what the answer is...but I know I that when an Israel Project poll was taken a short while ago, it found that "82 percent of the American public supports increased sanctions against Iran with only 16% opposing them. However, only 32% versus 67% thought diplomacy and sanctions would halt Iran's nuclear ambitions."
We must involve ourselves in the conversation with our public officials about our concerns about a Nuclear Iran. We must never forget that in every generation there have been those who have arisen to destroy us. We cannot afford to forget Amalek.
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