NEWS & EDITOR’S COMMENT: Israel can live with a nuclear Iran
Israel’s foreign minister: Iran nukes pose little threat to Israel
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said a few months ago in a series of closed discussions that in her opinion that Iranian nuclear weapons do not pose an existential threat to Israel, Haaretz magazine reveals in an article on Livni to be published Friday.
Livni also criticized the exaggerated use that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is making of the issue of the Iranian bomb, claiming that he is attempting to rally the public around him by playing on its most basic fears. Last week, former Mossad chief Ephraim Halevy said similar things about Iran. [complete article]
Editor’s Comment — While George Bush warns the world that Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons could lead to World War III, Israel’s foreign minister says, behind closed doors — in other words in a situation where she means what she says — that Iranian nuclear weapons would not pose an existential threat to Israel.
This should be banner headline news. The Washington press corp should be hounding administration officials, demanding an explanation for this utterly glaring clash of perspectives. Instead, what do we get? Silence.
This is what things have come down to: We live in a state where the dissemination of information is controlled much more efficiently than it was in the Soviet Union. At least the Russians understood they were being lied to. Most Americans, on the other hand, are completely ignorant of the incestuous relationship between the press and the government. In this system shaped by unspoken agreements, there is no need for some clumsy Ministry of Information. All the managing editors of the major outlets can be relied upon to shape their products (within an acceptable latitude) in alignment with political and commercial power — even when that means that they knowingly makes themselves instruments of an altogether avoidable disaster. They will plead that they are merely messengers, yet they are no less culpable than the lunatics in political office. They choose what to report and what to ignore.
(Note: As of 10.00GMT 10/26/07, the Haaretz magazine article referred to above has not appeared. If/when it is posted (it might only be available in print), it should appear here.)
Posted: October 26th, 2007 under Editor's comments, Iran, Israel, nuclear issues .
Comments: 2
| Permalink
Comments
Comment from Henry Pelifian
Time: October 26, 2007, 2:58 pm
I have lived overseas both as civilian and military duirng the Vietnam Conflict- it was another optional war that had to be fought and never declared a war. Circumventing the constitution by our elected leaders appears to be a full time job.
I was often struck by the bold articles in the newspapers exposing corruption in some countries abroad causing their governments to close the newspapers down for criticism that was deemed too harsh and harming their national security. The hand and glove relationship often practice in our country makes it unnecessary to have a Ministry of Information here as you point out.
Your “War in Context” comments: “This is what things have come down to: We live in a state where the dissemination of information is controlled much more efficiently than it was in the Soviet Union. At least the Russians understood they were being lied to. Most Americans, on the other hand, are completely ignorant of the incestuous relationship between the press and the government. In this system shaped by unspoken agreements, there is no need for some clumsy Ministry of Information.”
Look at the coverage of the fires in California, the television coverage especially seemed to be staged managed by the politicians often praising in effect their own administration and themselves.
What preventive measures could have been taken to minimize or prevent these fires in southern California? Probing of elected officials appears is being eliminated by our free press, especially in television reporting.
Comment from David Wearing
Time: October 27, 2007, 3:54 am
Of course, we don’t need Livni to tell us that the idea of Iran being able to wipe Israel off the map is a ridiculous fantasy.
But if true, these revelations show the depths the Israeli state is prepared to sink to for its own end.
For has not the spectre of Israel’s nuclear annihilation been linked implicitly and explicitly to the horrors of the Nazi holocaust? And if those who raise such fears know themselves that they are unfounded, is this not the most cynical exploitation of one of the greatest tragedies in all history? Does this not expose the idea that the Israeli state is the sole defender of world Jewry as an obscene sham? Can one imagine a more eloquent expression of sheer contempt for Hitler’s victims, a more brazen assault on their memory, than to make political use of their corpses?
Write a comment
(If you haven't made a comment before, please first read these commenting guidelines.)