ABOUT TOWN: Former Israeli Ambassador Visits Stoughton, Talks Threat of a Nuclear-Armed Iran

Editor's Note: The following is a guest column written by Mark Kushinsky and edited by Faye Kushinsky. Mark Snyder will return with another edition of About Town on Friday.

RETIRED ISRAELI AMBASSADOR VISITS STOUGHTON: Ambassador Yoram Ettinger gave an impassioned talk titled “The US-Iran-Israel Triangle” Friday evening, Oct. 12, at an open gathering hosted by Ahavath Torah Congregation in Stoughton.

Ettinger opened the talk with a reference to the opening lines of Genesis, which was read recently on Shabbat (Saturday), and how it can also be interpreted as a covenant of Fire and how in Hebrew The United States is translated as “the lands of the covenant.” In a subsequent talk the Ambassador went on to explain that the word “federal” is based on the Latin foedus which translates as a covenant.

He pointed out the shared value systems of the US and Israel and how Israel has been the strongest, most supportive ally of the US in the Middle East since the founding of the state in 1948. Approximately 120 individuals made up of Jews, Christians and other interested individuals were in attendance and gave the Ambassador a standing ovation at the end of the evening.   He began the talk by discussing the risks that a nuclear armed Iran would potentially pose to the US, to US interests and to Israel. According to Ettinger, if Iran were to obtain nuclear capability, one of the risks would be to the US needing to maintain an open Straits of Hormuz due to the amount of oil that travels through that critical waterway.

He also stated that a nuclear armed Iran would cause the US to have much less freedom of action, militarily and diplomatically, in the area, much in the same way that the US actions are now restricted as it pertains to North Korea. He went on to explain that contrary to public perception Israel would not likely be the first target of an Iranian attack due to the massive retaliatory ability of the Israeli military. Ettinger expressed that one of the risks of attack on the US could come via a surrogate acting on Iran’s behalf. As a concern he referred to the deepening military ties between Iran and Venezuela following Hugo Chavez’s assent to power.  

One of main themes of the night was that “pre-emption” is a moral good and necessity in order to avoid a much larger future "boots on the ground" conflict to remove the Iranian nuclear threat. He also made reference to the Israeli attack on the Iraqi core in 1981 which avoided the need for the US to deal with the threat of a nuclear Iraq in 1991 during the first Gulf War which was caused by the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

He indicated that Menachem Begin, then Prime Minister of Israel, was advised by almost all of his military and political advisors that the likelihood of success in the attack was between zero and none and the risks of the political fallout was vast. Begin decided to proceed anyway because the “cost of Israeli inaction was more dangerous than taking action no matter the outcome.” Ettinger also stated that although Israel was universally condemned at the time of the bombing, including by the Reagan administration, Dick Cheney in 1991, then US Secretary of Defense, acknowledged the debt that the US and the world owed to Israel by its actions of “pre-emption.”  

The evening ended with the Ambassador taking questions from those in attendance. One of the more interesting questions concerned Israel’s ability to strike Iran if she decided to go it alone. Ambassador Ettinger stated that the Israeli military has many more options that it did in 1981 due to her expansion of naval capabilities as well as other not specified military alliances with some of Iran’s neighbors.

Another of the attendees also asked about the relationship between Obama and Netanyahu and could it be repaired should Obama be re-elected in November? Ettinger stated that he did not feel the relationship could be repaired due to the too extreme differences in world views by the two leaders. According to Ettinger, Obama refuses to see the threat of Islamic terrorism and thus creates an unbridgeable gap in positions between the two leaders.  

According to the Jewish National Fund website, Ambassador Ettinger did his graduate studies at UCLA and undergraduate at UTEP, served as Minister for Congressional Affairs at Israel's Embassy in Washington (with the rank of ambassador), as Israel's Consul General in Houston and as Director of Israel's Government Press Office. He is the editor of Straight From The Jerusalem Cloakroom and Boardroom, newsletters on issues of national security and overseas investments in Israel's high-tech, as well The Ettinger Report. 

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY: To State Rep William Galvin (D-Canton); to Lisa Mullin, former member of the Stoughton Little League Board of Directors; to Tina Millman, who with her husband Mark, owns Stoughton Auto Body; and to PMPNetwork.com guest Erin Moran, Joanie from "Happy Days" is 52.

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BELATED BIRTHDAY WISHES: to Sandy Desmond, a cashier at the Home Depot in Avon, and a long-time STOYAC Cheerleading volunteer.  Her husband Bob is Vice Chair of the Stoughton Community Events Committee; to Stoughton Fire Lt. Jim Campbell. Both celebrated Wednesday.

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