Israel: The Designated "Bad Guy" Who Saves the World

Diplomacy by itself cannot do the job

The responses from the international community to Israel's brilliant and audacious attack on Iran's nuclear program are predictable.

The French Foreign Minister said, "We call on all parties to exercise restraint and avoid any escalation that could compromise regional stability."

Keir Starmer, UK PM, said, "Escalation serves no one in the region. Stability in the Middle East must be the priority and we are engaging partners to de-escalate. Now is the time for restraint, calm and a return to diplomacy."

The Australian Foreign Minister said, "This risks further destabilising a region that is already volatile. We call on all parties to refrain from actions and rhetoric that will further exacerbate tensions."

New Zealand's Prime Minister said, "It's a really unwelcome development in the Middle East. The risk of miscalculation is high. That region does not need any more military action, and risk associated with that."

Japan's Foreign Minister said, "The government strongly condemns this action, which escalates the situation."

Plus the unanimous Arab condemnations of Israel.

The only people who are authorized to speak on behalf of a nation are diplomats. Diplomats are trained to always prioritize diplomacy and to only support purely defensive military action against a current or imminent threat.

Diplomacy is ill equipped to deal with a nation that is weaponizing diplomacy itself as a cover to create a clandestine nuclear weapons program.

Iran's threat to Israel and the world is something that diplomacy simply cannot and never can fix. It can delay it at best. But without an inspections regime that violates Iranian sovereignty, with unlimited inspections in every inch of the regime, which no nation would ever tolerate, diplomacy and negotiations can never avert the threat.

Few can seriously doubt that Iran has a clandestine nuclear weapons program, plus an advanced ballistic missile program which can deliver the bombs to Israel and potentially much of Europe.

Everyone agrees that this is unacceptable. But diplomats are hardwired to seek to avoid military action.

Moreover, they cannot recognize long term catastrophic military threats as triggering the need for a military response before they actualize - and it is too late. Their knee-jerk response is that a state has the right to defend itself after it is attacked, which is cold comfort to a nation attacked by a nuclear bomb.

Diplomacy is not the only lens through which to view the world. But it is usually the only one that generally gets a public platform, by the very nature of international politics.

Most national leaders understand this. This is why they have their own armies and their own intelligence agencies - as alternatives and adjuncts to diplomacy and its limitations. The fact that diplomacy is only one leg of the stool of keeping the international order stable is rarely mentioned in public.

There can be little doubt that the heads of the world's militaries and intelligence agencies are celebrating Israel's astonishing attack this morning. But they can only hint at this in public - because a nation needs a consistent position on the world stage, and that position is written by diplomats.

Israel, as the intended target of an Iranian nuclear bomb, cannot and must not depend on diplomacy to protect itself - especially diplomacy from third parties who do not have as much skin in the game.

No nations wanted Iran to have a nuclear bomb. But most don't have the tools to stop it, because diplomacy cannot and they would never deploy their militaries to defend Israel.

As a result, Israel plays a unique role on the world stage: the designated bad guy. It is often the only nation that will do what is necessary and is willing to withstand international condemnation. This allows other nations to publicly condemn Israel while privately breathe a sigh of relief - which was their reaction when Israel destroyed Iraq's and Syria's own clandestine nuclear weapons programs, and when Israel decapitated Hezbollah and paved the path for the Syrian regime to fall.

But Israel pays a heavy price for this thankless role. The constant diplomatic criticism has real world effects that spill into the economic and other fields. But if Israel wouldn't do it, and nations like the US wouldn't show that diplomacy without a credible military threat is meaningless, the world would now be facing not only Iranian nukes but also Iraqi, Syrian and Libyan nukes under extremist regimes.

Israel is literally saving the world, in public, and the way the world is set up means that it will remain a thankless and risky job.