Last weekend I was invited to speak to representatives of the United Israel Appeal in Geneva. The audience consisted of young Jews from all over Europe who gathered for a weekend to raise donations for Israel. Nadav, a participant in the convention, who apologized in advance for asking me a "provocative" question, said, "Who authorized the Israeli media to determine if Israel is capable of attacking Iran-" German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said on Monday that the public debate about an attack on Iran has only served to strengthen the Islamic Republic's leadership. Perhaps having a public debate on the matter isn't such a bright idea after all. Get the Israel Hayom newsletter sent to your mailbox! The International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to release its incriminating report on the Iranian nuclear program in the next 24 hours. Until the report is released, we will continue to live with leaks and claims. Russia grabbed the spotlight on Monday on two fronts. First, we were told that a Russian scientist helped the Iranians obtain critical information about nuclear weapons production, and then Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov cautioned the world about an imminent attack on Iran. As the movie title put it, Moscow does not believe in tears. Nor does Beijing. Judging by their behavior until now, we can conclude that they couldn't care less about Iran's nuclear program; what they want is the oil. There are 193 member states in the U.N., with all due respect to UNESCO. Each one has its own interests. Russia and China have different priorities. Both rely on Iranian oil in the same way that a kidney patient needs a dialysis machine. Modern capitalists in Beijing care only about their economic growth. It would be enough for Iran to threaten to close the Strait of Hormuz -- through which 17 million barrels of oil pass each day -- to get the Chinese to support only one option: diplomacy. The Iranian crisis on our doorstep pits China and Russia against the U.S. Has anything really changed in our world- Ten days ago, talk of a military option against Iran turned into a "media festival" in Israel. In the meantime, diplomats have been working overtime, and Russia and China are trying to reconvene talks between Iran and Western powers. Washington is working on a plan for a fifth round of sanctions against Iran. The media skipped diplomacy and went straight to the military option. It's safe to assume that Tehran will continue its race toward acquiring nuclear weapons, which would enable it to be master of the Persian Gulf, but not the "Arab Gulf." It was reported on Monday that the Iranian nuclear program has laid to rest the Begin Doctrine," according to which Israel had to pay any price to prevent an enemy from acquiring a nuclear weapon. After Operation Tammuz" in 1981, the world -- including the enlightened New York Times -- condemned Israel's "aggression," as if the act of destroying Iraq's nuclear reactor was nothing more than a "violent, unjustified act, which would only be beneficial in the short term." At least then, as opposed to today, the condemnations came after the act.
