Iran: Israel Must Be Destroyed

For the first time in a number of years, a high-ranking Iranian official has called for Israel’s eradication. The official just happens to be President Ahmadinejad, who offered these words at a Tehran conference entitled “The World without Zionism”:

The establishment of the Zionist regime was a move by the world oppressor [the US] against the Islamic world . . . The skirmishes in the occupied land are part of a war of destiny. The outcome of hundreds of years of war will be defined in Palestinian land . . . As the Imam [Khomeini] said, Israel must be wiped off the map . . .The Islamic umma [community] will not allow its historic enemy to live in its heartland . . . We should not settle for a piece of land [Gaza] . . . Anyone who signs a treaty which recognises the entity of Israel means he has signed the surrender of the Muslim world . . . Any leaders in the Islamic umma who recognise Israel face the wrath of their own people.

I’ll say this for Ahmadinejad: there’s no ambiguity in his words. But those words could be counterproductive for Iran by possibly weakening its position at the UN and increasing the likelihood of an Israeli pre-emptive strike if and when it appears that Iran is on the verge of having a nuclear weapons capability.

The only reason I can see for this exercise in extremism is to rally support for an unpopular regime by stirring up hatred for an external enemy. After all, that’s a time-honored technique for totalitarians.