Not to engage in hyperbole, but the safety of the world is at stake.
Iran has been cruising towards new heights in their mission to become globally dominant.
And, for some misguided motives, American media has been shielding much of the material informing world leaders from the American public.
That’s a shame; it's also grossly negligent.
The Israeli Defense Minister has delivered a far more sobering assessment of Iran’s current nuclear status than the news that appears on our mainstream screens and in our websites.
Yoav Gallant, former commander of the Southern Command for the Israeli Defense Forces, now serving as a minister in the Netanyahu government, has expressed the intel that Iran now has enough highly enriched fissile material for five nuclear bombs.
Five.
They do not yet, however, he believes, have a delivery system or a trigger mechanism for this nuclear arsenal. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is inagreement.
We can assume that their assessment is spot on accurate from the Iranian reaction to Gallant and Netanyahu’s observations.
Iranian leadership quickly responded to the comments with a warning to Israel, expressed in highly exaggerated terms, not to attack Iran.
Their response carried an addendum: Iran has capabilities to destroy Israel.
At the same time, Iran has also sealed an unexpected deal with Saudi Arabia.
Unexpected because it was thought that the Saudis were moving closer to the West and even inching towards joining other Arab nations in signing on to the Abraham Accords with Israel.
Then suddenly, out of the blue, they join together with Iran, historically — and we are talking about a history that spans thousands of years, their arch enemy.
China and Russia are, of course, a part of this new nexus. Together, China, Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia have forged a brand new dangerous team in a brand new global arena.
In an interview on CNBC conducted by Hadley Gamble, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu was asked about Iran’s new global friends and partners.
His response was straight forward: "Those who partner with Iran partner with misery. Look at Lebanon, look at Yemen, look at Syria, look at Iraq. 95% of the problems in the Middle East emanate from Iran."
Israel — the eternally optimistic Jewish State, is still counting on the Saudis to eventually join the Abraham Accords. A Saudi signature on the Accords would be the most significant partnering of all.
Because of all that Saudi Arabia represents, that signature would, for Israel, symbolize the end of the intractable Arab Israeli Conflict.
Media coverage throughout the Middle and Far East — again, often ignored by American media, has been the announcement that China has volunteered to mediate between the Palestinians and the Israelis.
Asked whether Israel would agree to a Chinese mediation Netanyahu said, "I’m not aware of any specific offer of this kind." Diplomatically, the Israeli prime minister added: "Look, we respect China, we deal with China a great deal. But we also know we have an indispensable alliance with our great friend the United States."
Realistically, there is no way that Israel would agree to a Chinese role in talks with Palestinians. Israel does not trust China.
China’s grandiose gesture is, plainly and clearly, a move to further oust the United States from Mideast politics.
It will not happen. But that's not the point.
Removing Saudi Arabia, the newcomer and lesser member of the new nexus, from the discussion for a moment, the point is that China, Russia and Iran are successfully turning into a united fulcrum with several important goals.
And they want the world to know what those goals are.
They are making it clear that they exercise influence in the region and in the world.
They are making it clear that their agenda is not the U.S. Western agenda.
They are making it clear that there is no issue that is off their agenda, from intervening and solving the Iran/Saudi conflict to intervening in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
The successes they have reaped weaken Western diplomatic, military and economic influence. And that suits China, Russia, Iran and now Saudi Arabia just fine.
They have created incentives and disincentives for countries in far flung corners of the world to form policy and to build strategy.
At this very moment, Iran is feeling stronger than they have felt in a very long time.
And that is why Israel, right now, most certainly, has plans, together with the support of the United States of America, to strike Iran on multiple levels to eliminate the Iranian nuclear threat — and then to defend itself against an inevitable counter attack.
The question now is not if Israel will follow through with their plan.
The question is when.
Micah Halpern is a political and foreign affairs commentator. He founded "The Micah Report" and hosts "Thinking Out Loud with Micah Halpern," a weekly TV program, and "My Chopp," a daily radio spot. Follow him on Twitter @MicahHalpern. Read Micah Halpern's Reports — More Here.
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