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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1824294/posts?page=5#5

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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1824294/posts

The Arab Military Build-Up
Jewish Press ^ | 4-26-07

Posted on 04/26/2007 6:04:06 PM PDT by SJackson

Last week’s comments by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates reassuring Israel that a planned major American arms sale to Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf countries – designed, he said, to counter a threat from Iran – would not threaten Israel’s position of military superiority should be a wake-up call.

According to a New York Times account, in the course of Mr. Gates’s meeting with Prime Minister Olmert and other top Israeli officials on his visit to the Middle East last week, the defense secretary emphasized that Iran poses a greater threat to Israel than do the Arab countries slated to receive cutting-edge American weaponry.

Mr. Gates reportedly told Prime Minister Olmert that the proposed arms sales are viewed as a way to offset concern in the Middle East about Iran’s military strength.

Israel is reportedly most concerned about the planned transfer of satellite-guided weaponry to Saudi Arabia that includes highly accurate bombs. To be sure, Secretary Gates made it clear to Mr. Olmert that the U.S. would help Israel maintain its military advantage. And he pointedly noted that Russia and other countries might sell arms to the Arab states in question if the U.S. did not.

None of this, of course, can make supporters of Israel feel any better about a situation that every day seems to grow further beyond Israel’s control.

Whatever spin one puts on Israel’s war last summer against Hizbullah, the fact remains that Islamic fighters are now embedded in Lebanon with their rockets and the ability to launch them intact. Hamas and Islamic Jihad are armed and capable of hitting both Gaza and the West Bank. Other countries in the region undoubtedly are wondering whether Israel is especially vulnerable at this point in time.

The bottom line is that Israel is at unprecedented risk from a multitude of vantage points – from immediate neighbors as well as from an Iran intent on fulfilling its nuclear ambitions. Making matters worse, Israel is suffering a leadership crisis like never before in its history.

The fact that Israel has not only survived but thrived through six decades of war and terrorism is seen by many as nothing short of miraculous. Given the growing radicalization of its Arab neighbors and the sorry state of its governing class, Israel will need many more miracles in the years ahead.