Iran Stalls for Time While Obama Runs Out the Clock on Israel

Time is running out for Israel, and the Obama Administration is counting the minutes. The talks between Iran and the six world powers, U.S., Britain, France, China, Russia, and Germany, have come to a end. Nothing was achieved, and there has been no further date set for another meeting. European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator said they would talk again at the end of August, but that was it.

Yet the Obama Administration refuses to call the talks a failure.

A senior official in Israel acknowledged the obvious: Because of the Obama Administration’s silence, Iran was free to pursue its nuclear ambitions, “As long as there is no such declaration, the Iranians think that they are protected.” One ostensible reason the official cited for the lack of a statement was the coming election, because the Obama administration doesn’t want to roil the waters and raise oil prices before November.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated that if Israel was threatened, it had a right to defend itself, saying, “In war, you can prevent strikes, but there is no defending against atomic weapons.”  He also restated that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was irrational.

But the Obama Administration has been using the tried-and-true technique of all Democratic presidents since Jimmy Carter when confronted by a strong Israeli Prime Minister – they turn to the famed arch-dove Shimon Peres to undercut the Israeli Administration. Last week, Peres met with U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, and, of course, stated that he opposed an Israeli strike on Iran. Apparently Peres, who pines for the spotlight (he loves hanging out with celebrities) has been making the rounds of Western officials to sabotage Netanyahu at every turn, which is nothing new; he did the same thing in Netanyahu’s first term in the 1990’s.

Even Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who ousted Netanyahu the first time, is disgusted with Peres. He and Netanyahu were privately steamed at Peres, because they believe Peres may have been responsible for the media reporting that Americans feel that Barak and Netanyahu are “ungrateful” for U.S. support of Israel.

While Obama fiddles, Israel is burning. And his refusal to confront the Iranian mullahs and their regime is pouring gasoline on the fire.