Nicholas Goldberg: Why I’m voting against Rick Caruso. (It’s not because of his positions on the issues.)
In his last State of the State address, Governor Cuomo last week was much more conciliatory to Israel than his predecessor and former boss, George Pataki.
“Israel is a strategic partner for New York State,” he said. “And we have a tradition and a history with Israel that go way beyond a love of the country.”
In truth, I think New York has much more to lose by being seen as supportive of Israel than has Pataki.
After all, it is in the nation’s interest to keep its borders open, as is the case with the U.S.’s policy vis-à-vis Iran. But it’s also in the interest of Israel to have open borders, to say the least. The reason is simple: it is much harder for Israel to have an invasion against a country that is not considered a strategic partner to Israel and, at the same time, has an open border.
Israel, then, has a great interest in keeping its borders open, especially on its northern border. The country’s security is at stake on the issue.
The country’s security is in peril due to Iran’s “threat.” After Iran’s Supreme Leader declared that if it attacked Israel, Iran would “wipe [Israel off the map] immediately,” his declaration was met with shock and dismay by top Iranian officials.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hossein Jaberi Amrouzegar, said Iran would not initiate war against the Jewish state. But the country’s “Islamic Republic” president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said that while he would be ready to defend himself against an attack by Israeli forces, “Israel must know that we are not an enemy of the Islamic nation.”
Iran’s “threat” was then met with a similar statement from Hezbollah. The Lebanon-based Shiite terror group said