The Nuclear Deal Made Last Week’s Incursion of an Iranian Drone into Israel Possible - by David Gerstman

...To be certain, Israel has the capacity to defend itself. But it is now facing a new direct threat, an Iran which is both dedicated to its destruction, and emboldened and strengthened by the 2015 nuclear deal. Maybe Iran would have eventually reached Israel’s borders, but the nuclear deal ensured that it would happen sooner rather than later.

David Gerstman..
thetower.org..
16 February 18'..

An analysis of last week’s incursion of an Iranian drone into Israeli airspace and Israel’s military response to it in The New York Times characterized the incident as “a sharp escalation of long-brewing hostilities.” This is an accurate characterization of the clash, as one of Islamic Republic’s goals, as evidenced by statements of its political and military leaders, since its founding in 1979 has been the destruction of Israel.

Iran’s behavior since the conclusion of the nuclear deal in July 2015 has shown that with an infusion of billions in cash and a blind eye towards its aggression has allowed it to pursue its goal. The first direct military confrontation between Israel and Iran reflects Iran’s continued efforts toward that end.

That Iran’s leaders call for Israel’s destruction has been well-documented. The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) has published a number of reports cataloguing these statements. Based on Iran’s military actions, these threats cannot be dismissed as simply rhetorical excesses, but must be viewed as statements of purpose that the regime is taking concrete steps to implement.

One of the JCPA studies observed that “incitement to commit genocide as a war crime” and further that “much of the Iranian language regarding Israel can certainly be legally defined this way.” The initial study focused on the time when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was president of Iran, but when Hassan Rouhani succeeded him, the latter “has nonetheless referred to ‘the Zionist regime’ as an enemy nation and pledged to find a way to achieve Khomeini’s long-term goal of ensuring that Israel ceases to exist.”

In fact in April 2015, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted the nations negotiating the nuclear deal for continuing the nuclear talks after Gen. Mohammad Reza Naqdi, the commander of Iran’s Basij militia, stated “Israel’s destruction is non-negotiable.”

A few months later, after the deal was agreed to, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, head of the Lebanese terror group, Hezbollah, that the nuclear deal “created a historic opportunity to [sic] for regional cooperation” to fight Zionism.

The official Iranian view, as expressed by Zarif, showed that the regime intended to use the windfall of sanctions relief to further its goal of destroying Israel.

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