Netanyahu Needs New Iran Strategy
Israel should recognize the opportunity presented by the election of Hassan Rouhani as president of Iran.
As of Aug. 3, Iran is going to have a new president, Hassan Rouhani. When it comes to foreign policy, Rouhani can best be described as the anti-Ahmadinejad. A new president in Iran calls for a new approach from Israel toward Iran.
With Rouhani in office, Iran is going to sound a lot more diplomatic and moderate. Rouhani is not a known Holocaust denier like President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Its also quite likely that he is going to tone down the anti-Israel rhetoric for which Ahmadinejad is famous. In fact, in his first press conference, Rouhani went against years of protocol by referring to Israel by its proper name instead of “the Zionist entity,” a term which the majority of politicians in the Iranian regime have been using.
This means Israel has to follow suit by moderating its tone. Continuing with the status quo, meaning relying almost entirely on military threats against Iran’s nuclear installations, could now backfire. With a moderate-sounding president in Iran, the existing status quo could mean that Israel could end up looking like a warmonger and the Iranian government the moderate side.
To avoid such a scenario, the first thing the government of Israel should do is be more supportive of the diplomatic process currently being undertaken by the UN Security Council with Iran.
