Nuclear Iran threatens all

10 May 2010

Ambassador Bleich with Manny Waks. Photo by Sylvia Deutch.

I had the privilege of addressing the Capital Jewish Forum in Canberra the other night. Forum director Manny Waks and his wife Elise have been extremely open and welcoming to me since I arrived and this event was no exception. Although my comments focused mostly on nuclear non-proliferation, I tried to clarify how important that agenda is to another subject of great interest to this group: the security of Israel.

In short, what I explained is that no one can ignore the risk that a nuclear Iran poses to the world and especially to Israel. Iran has been flagrantly and persistently violating the non-proliferation treaty by developing a secret enrichment program. This coupled with its support for terrorism and its President’s specific threats to Israel are a big readon why the nations of the world need to come together to condemn and stop nuclear proliferation.

Here in Australia, we have been working together as governments, engaging with other allies to increase the cost to Iran if it fails to live up to its international obligations. But we have also engaged with other non-allied powers including China and Russia to bring Iran into line.

As everyone knows, we’ve obtained a UN Security Council sanctions resolution. But since those sanctions have not yet caused Iran to change its posture, we are continuing to ratchet up the consequences of Iran’s actions.

One important piece of making sanctions work is to recognize the difference between the people of Iran and the leadership of that country. The people of Iran were out in droves after the election protesting and they were ruthlessly attacked, beaten, and in some cases killed by their own government. They understand the reckless course that their leaders are taking and they want it stopped too.

So our challenge is in part to design sanctions in a way that inflicts the punishment where it belongs – on the architects and beneficiaries of the nuclear program and not the public – without punishing those who share our desire for peace.

Of course, one country that would be most threatened by a nuclear-armed Iran is Israel, and it is one of the reasons why we cannot let up on the pressure. As I assured CJF, though, there should be no confusion about America’s commitment to protect Israel. The forces that threaten Israel threaten the United States. As Secretary Clinton stated, our commitment to Israel's security and Israel's future is rock solid, unwavering, enduring and forever. When we strengthen Israel's security, we strengthen our own security, we strengthen Australia’s security, and we strengthen the world’s security.