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  Obama to Israel: You're On Your Own
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ContributorScottĀ³ 
Last EditedScottĀ³  Sep 12, 2012 02:12pm
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CategoryOpinion
MediaNewspaper - Wall Street Journal
News DateTuesday, September 11, 2012 08:00:00 PM UTC0:0
Description"Does President Obama want Israel to bomb Iran before the election? If we had more faith in this Administration's competence, we'd be tempted to think so.

Both publicly and behind the scenes, Administration officials have insisted they oppose a unilateral Israeli strike for many reasons: Diplomacy and sanctions still need time to work; an Israeli attack could destabilize the region; Israel doesn't have the military means to do the job thoroughly; and so on.

It's no secret the Israelis don't want to strike Iran either, provided the U.S. is serious about keeping a bomb out of the mullahs' hands. But Israel's confidence in Mr. Obama's seriousness is fading fast. This week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Bloomberg Radio that "we're not setting deadlines" for Iran to halt its program.

That prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to note that "those in the international community who refuse to put red lines before Iran don't have a moral right to place a red light before Israel."

That's the kind of tough diplomatic exchange that an Administration should want to smooth over, at least if it's truly intent on forestalling an Israeli attack. But now comes word that Mr. Obama will not even meet with Mr. Netanyahu during the latter's visit later this month to the U.S. Scheduling conflicts, you know."
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