Israel today is facing four menacing and imminent threats. In order to address them and protect its people, it must focus on the present, not the past. And it must determine to eliminate the threats, not contain them.
During their joint press conference on Wednesday, both Trump and Netanyahu agreed that Iran's ambition for nuclear weapons poses a threat to Israel, the Middle East and the West. Lashing back, Tehran named Israel as the "biggest threat to regional and international peace and security." It was a message quickly followed up by the head of Hezbollah with a thinly veiled threat to strike Israel's nuclear power center with its vast arsenal of high-tech Iranian missiles.
In an announcement that Jerusalem did not expect, Russia has signaled its intent to provide high-tech weapons to the armed forces of Syria. The problem is that Damascus remains the puppet of Iran and a sibling puppet with Lebanon's "Party of Allah." Their visceral commitment to Israel's destruction is at least as strong as their desire to defeat ISIS. Accordingly, Jerusalem wonders: will these high-tech weapons be added to Hezbollah's vast arsenal for use against the Jewish state?
Any notion of a united bloc of aligned countries standing as a wall against Iranian and Sunni Islamist advancement is little more than a mirage.
Ammonia, an essential ingredient for life, could kill thousands of Israelis. The reason: its ammonia supply in northern Israel is a sitting duck for an attack by Hezbollah. Less than a year ago, Hezbollah leader, Nasralla, threatened the Haifa facility, calling it his "atomic bomb." It remains an obvious target.