During his brief descent this week upon the island of Cyprus, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu jumped at the chance to make menacing allegations about the implications of the recent nuclear deal with Iran.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Netanyahu warned his Cypriot audience that“Iran and Hezbollah organize a terrorist network that covers over thirty countries on five continents, including Europe, just about every country in Europe.”
Seeing as Europe alone comprises nearly 50 countries, the Israeli fearmonger-in-chief could have more professionally tailored his calculations to convey the supposedly existential nature of the threat. After all, if you’re going to make shit up, might as well go all the way.
Largely to blame for the impending Iran- and Hezbollah-based apocalypse, of course, is the United States government, whose leaders—in conceding to conduct civil negotiations with the Islamic Republic—get to play the reasonable and enlightened foils to Netanyahu’s unhinged character.
But in the end, how wide is the rhetoric gap between the Great Satan and its junior partner?
Let’s look at Barack Obama’s post-nuclear deal interview with the cause ofmany wasted hours of my life: the New York Times’ Thomas Friedman. In it, the president addresses the concerns of unidentified “critics” of the nuclear deal, whose criticisms he paraphrases as follows: “Well, even if the nuclear issue is dealt with, [the Iranians are] still going to be sponsoring terrorism, and they’re going to get this sanctions relief. And so they’re going to have more money to engage in these bad activities.” READ MORE AT JACOBIN.