Netanyahu’s Anti-Diplomacy Push Struggling to Find an Audience

Western Diplomats Say Israeli Officials 'Out of Step' With World

Almost everybody is on board with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s call for diplomacy, and while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the US to condemn diplomacy in general got some lip-service from US officials, it was less than successful in changing the tone.

Western diplomats dubbed Netanyahu as “out of step” with the rest of the world on the question of diplomacy, and even hawks within the Obama Administration like Secretary of State John Kerry have pushed the argument that they are virtually obliged to at least give diplomacy a shot.

The Netanyahu message that diplomacy is a “trick” and cannot be allowed is clearly failing, even though US officials seem eager to try placate him with promises of new sanctions.

Netanyahu continues to push the idea of Iran being forced to give up the whole of its program to see any easing of sanctions, but that seems to be failing as well, with officials increasingly resigned to allowing Iran to keep a civilian program that is perfectly legal under international law, and which remains all that Iran is proven to have at any rate.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.