100 and one nights in Tel Aviv ~ DEFCON 3

The coalition government in Israel just celebrated its first 100 days. And to celebrate it, Human Rights Watch presented a report about possible war crimes committed in Gaza last winter. It’s not like if Netanyahu’s Government was in charge of the operation, but they surely supported it. And Ehud Barak, one of Netanyahu’s partners, was holding then the Defense portfolio. As he does now.

Yet, in the three months in charge of Bibi, Libi and Barak, few things have changed. For the latter it is understandable. He was already the Minister of Defense in the previous Administration, as he is still now. For him, is like if nothing has changed at all.

Well, just a small detail. Now he is too the unofficial Foreign Minister. Barak is the one in charge -together with Netanyahu- of the relations with the USA. What at first should had been a work for Lieberman, the real Foreign Minister, ended up in the laborist politician because of the radicalism and clumsiness of Libi.

Truth is that Lieberman must be the Foreign Minister with more free time in the area. Even though he is an Israeli. From his campaign promises, only the less important are accomplished or even started. Things such as start the meetings at 7 a.m. or make the Department more efficient. About the rest, nothing.

Nothing from the reception Egyptian president Mubarak was supposed to give Lieberman; he only has seen Cairo in the postcards from other government executives. Jordan still boycotts him and it was the president Shimon Peres who traveled to Amman and Cairo for him. His encounters with his European and Russian counterparts didn’t go better either.

But the worst case was the US-Israel relations. Nothing has he done but inflamme them with his periodical polemic quotes; or even acts. In fact, if we take into consideration the jokes from US senior diplomats, his relation with Hillary Clinton couldn’t be worse:

His meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was described as a disaster. Clinton was reportedly offended by Lieberman's comments during the press conference and when she later accidentally fell and hurt her hand, Washington diplomatic circles joked that "she was pushed down the stairs by Yvet," according to a senior U.S. official, who referred to Lieberman by his nickname.

Up to now, the only visible project from Lieberman’s office has been Iran. In fact, in two weeks, the Foreign Minister will travel through Latin America to try to balance the influence of Ahmadinejad in the region.

To be honest, Iran also can be considered as the only serious project in all the new government. Or at least, the most advanced. Netanyahu and Lieberman have been for months (practically since they took the office) warning over a preventive attack on the nuclear posts in Iran. A match in a gas station that could be a disaster at many levels for the region.

Not something that worries Bibi and Libi. They share the same dream about a wipeouted nuclear Iran. And everyone thinking different can go to hell.

With that objective on mind, the Army has been training with drifts and aerial exercises and war games. The target in all of them was crystal clear -the Persians- and they didn’t even tried to hide it.

Last week a new scenario came across when it was known that an Israeli Dauphine class submarine crossed Suez on its way to the Red Sea from the Mediterranean, where usually are stationed. During the day and on the surface, visible to everyone -especially in Iran- to let the world know that the strategic arsenal of Israel was on route to the Gulf. Another alternative to add to the already known.

With this escalate, the US already warned Netanyahu they don’t want an attack on Iran. But according to Biden they won’t ban it either. This is, they don’t give green light, but neither they do a red light.

So the Iranian government, yesterday, responsabilized directly the US of any attack coming from Israel for not being tough enough with them. But the US are not the only ones, Saudi Arabia reportedly gave a nod to a possible skirmish on Iran. Back to the beginning of the three -now four- possibilities.

We have to count with the petition from Obama to Netanyahu -and not the opposite, as the Israeli media states- to wait until the end of the year to wait for results on the talks. Let’s see if Bibi can wait or if he pushes the US again downstairs.