Trifling over bottles, while Iran goes nuclear

Rudolph Giuliani, the mythological former mayor of New York, who successfully guided the city through the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on his way to becoming an American hero, expects the prime minister of Israel to address Congress next month in order to try and prevent a bad deal between Iran and Western powers, led by Washington. Not only for the sake of his friends in Israel, but mostly for his own sake, as an American citizen.

Giuliani, much like Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel, believes a nuclear Iran is a threat to the world, making Netanyahu's speech particularly important.

The timing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech has nothing to do with the upcoming elections in Israel, as many would have us think. The timing has everything to do with the late March deadline for a nuclear deal. "You can't stop implementing policy just because of elections," Giuliani explains, certainly not when it comes to stopping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons capabilities. The perceived falling out with the U.S. is more of a falling out with the administration, says Giuliani. Israel clearly represents American values.

It is a shame the Iranian issue has become the sticking point between Netanyahu and an Obama administration seeking to even the score with the Israeli prime minister, as if he were an enemy and not a friend. It's too bad that officials in Washington aren't saving their negative energy for the Iranians. The current rift may not be because of Netanyahu's planned speech. It could be that opposition to a bad nuclear deal is the main reason for the open tensions between the administration and Netanyahu.

It is also a shame the Israeli press has made a point of undermining Netanyahu's speech instead of demonstrating a sense of responsibility, failing to realize that if there is one thing over which there is still a consensus in this country it's the Iranian nuclear issue. An Iranian nuclear bomb would not only threaten Israel's very existence but it would also jeopardize its diplomatic and military maneuverability in the Middle East, which is growing ever more perilous.

While we trifle over the household spending at the Prime Minister's Residence and Sara Netanyahu's bottle recycling (all in efforts to influence political outcomes), Iran is focused on obtaining a nuclear bomb. Just as Giuliani told Israel Hayom, the Islamic Republic's nuclear program isn't exactly intended for peaceful purposes. Iran doesn't truly have energy problems. Iran wants a bomb. Neighboring Gulf states, it was reported on Saturday, understood this a long time ago and are concerned, as is Jerusalem, Paris and even the Iranian opposition, which is no less troubled than anyone else by the notion of an ayatollah regime with a nuclear weapon.

In 2009, the administration chose the bad guys (the Iranian regime) at the expense of the good guys (the Green revolutionaries). Based on the administration's conduct and the report Saturday that senior administration officials would possibly boycott the upcoming AIPAC conference, one would certainly be justified in worrying that the Obama administration will choose the bad guys again in 2015.

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