To the editor:
Your editorial, "Israel and Iran," asserts that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu "has ignored American entreaties to give diplomacy a reasonable chance" and that his government "has never liked the idea of negotiating with Iran on the nuclear issue."
Israel, under several prime ministers, has made it clear that it prefers a diplomatic solution to the gravest threat facing the world today. The fact that it has long put off any military action despite the consequence that this delay has greatly increased the difficulty of implementing a successful attack and the risk to the Israeli civilian population disproves the assertions in your editorial.
Diplomacy has obviously been a failure so far and it is unlikely to ever work unless it is backed by a realistic and credible military option. Unfortunately, both the rhetoric coming from our current administration and editorials such as yours increase the probability that diplomacy will continue to fail and military action - unwanted by Israelis even more than by Americans - will ultimately become the only option available.
Sincerely,
Alan Stein