It might give the Iranian regime pause if it believed Israel was getting ready to take matters into its own hands. And China might be more willing to endorse tough sanctions on Iran, as Washington has fruitlessly urged, if Beijing thought the alternative was an Israeli military attack.
Yet, there is something about Dempsey's words that should make us uneasy. They exemplify a disturbing level of mistrust between Washington and Jerusalem that makes them ring true.
This mistrust is not, as Republican election campaign rhetoric would claim, a product of the administration's failure to support Israel. On the contrary, defense cooperation between the two countries has never been closer. Moreover, President Obama has twisted himself in knots to support Israel's opposition to Palestinian statehood efforts at the United Nations.
Nor is the mistrust - on the surface, anyway - a product of public differences over approaching Iran's nuclear program. After early attempts at engaging Iran failed, Obama adopted a tough stance toward Tehran, including harsh economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation. The president repeats at every opportunity that Iran will not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons and that all options (including military) are on the table.
Yet, as I witnessed at a fascinating, high-level dialogue in Washington between current and former Israeli and American officials, along with journalists and intellectuals, Israelis don't believe Obama. At the eighth Saban Forum, sponsored by the Brookings Institution, I heard Israelis say repeatedly that Obama and his team were not credible when they said Iran wouldn't be permitted to have nuclear weapons.
