THE POINTLESS kerfuffle in Charlotte over whether the Democratic Party platform would contain a reference to Jerusalem obscured the fact that the Obama administration and the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu continue to have a real and dangerous difference of opinion. The issue is not the location of Israel’s capital — President Obama’s position is identical to those of previous Democratic and Republican presidents — but the question of what to do about Iran’s nuclear program.
That there are differences between Mr. Obama and Mr. Netanyahu over the urgency of considering military action against Iran has been evident for some time. The White House has been saying that, despite Tehran’s progress in enriching uranium and refusal to bargain seriously with an international coalition, there remains “time and space for diplomacy,” a position we’re inclined to agree with. Israel, suggesting that Iran is approaching a “zone of immunity” in which its program would be nearly invulnerable to attack, has been signaling that it could act unilaterally in the coming months.
