Worry about Iran, not Israel

David M. Weinberg writes about how, in the wake of the protest riots in Egypt, Bahrain and Libya, Iran's menace has been all but forgotten, and the so-called leaders of the west are again acting as though the Israeli-palestinian conflict is the problem:

Two insidious arguments make up this emerging mythology: that Israeli unwillingness to speed towards peace with the Palestinians threatens to further destabilize the Mideast at a sensitive time; and that Israel is on the wrong side of history because it seeks to chill Western enthusiasm for glorious Tahrir Square-style Moslem revolutions.

The first contention is being advanced both by Western leaders and the Israeli Left. We’ve heard it from German Chancellor Merkel and former U.S. national security advisor Jones: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the core dispute that inflames all others. Israel’s failure to settle with Abbas strengthens and amplifies the appeal of the radicals. Palestine must be created now to contain the Islamist threat and placate Arab public opinion.

The Israel Left has a twist on this argument: Israel needs to settle rapidly with the Palestinians because we can’t hack so many confrontations simultaneously. We need to divert our military and diplomatic resources from the Palestinian arena to the new frontlines emerging in Lebanon and Egypt. Settle with Abbas now, so that we can better confront Nasrallah and the next Ayatollah of Egypt.

Of course, both groups ignore that fact that nobody is demonstrating in Cairo or Sana because of Palestine; they ignore the fact that Israel has nobody with whom to negotiate reasonable concessions (Abbas prefers a UN battering ram to negotiations); and they ignore the fact that Tahrir Square squalls are likely to yet blow in Ramallah’s Manara Square. The latter fact only reinforces Israel’s insistence on secure borders, something that Abbas’ shaky, temporary regime is unlikely to be able to provide.

So don’t lay the blame on Israel, please, for instability across the Middle East, or expect Jerusalem to take wild leaps in order to calm the protestors in Cairo.

And don't start taking actions that could encourage the Muslims in Judea/Samaria/Gaza to riot either. What they need to be doing is urging them not to do so. But sadly, the western "leaders" probably won't.