Iranian ships set sail to Gaza this week. Supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is ready to provide an escort to cargo ships trying to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza. Iran, the center of gravity for world terror, arms and funds its two proxies on Israel’s borders, Hamas and Hezbollah. The two groups have fired more than 10,000 missiles into Israel, killing and terrorizing a multitude of innocent Israeli civilians. Both have been emboldened by President Barack Obama’s appeasement policies.

President Obama has an extremely small window in which to draw a line in the sand with Iran. If he does not, Iran’s action could precipitate war in the Middle East. The Iranians have threatened to "wipe the stinking corpse [Israel] off the map” with a nuclear bomb. There is nothing more for Israel to do at this juncture.

Terrorist organizations fueled and fed by Iran want nothing more than to kill Jews wherever they may be found. Jimmy Carter missed a golden opportunity to support America’s strongest Muslim ally in the Middle East – the Shah of Iran. Instead he opened up back channels of communication with the godfather of world terror, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in Paris. It appears President Obama has chosen the same course.

The terrorists that surround Israel have measured the current occupant of the White House and found him to be ineffective. Obama is just one more to join the queue of presidents wanting the award for having achieved peace in the Middle East. Now it seems that his determination to waffle on the issue of Iran’s nuclear ambitions has brought us, not closer to peace, but to an all-out war in the region.

The Obama administration betrayed Israel even before the flotilla reached its interception point. Several days before the incident on the Mavi Marmara, the U.S. participated in a conference which called upon Israel, not Iran, to relinquish its nuclear weapons. Such a move would leave the tiny nation defenseless against the likes of Iran.

The signals are apparent to anyone watching: Obama is weak. He has no visible ties to the Jewish state. Opportunity knocks! The result is the launch of missiles from Gaza and Hezbollah’s hunger for another war. Syria has thumbed its nose at overtures from the U.S. administration and Ahmadinejad is threatening another Holocaust. I can’t help but wonder how he can threaten a second when he doesn’t believe in the first.

All but hard core Muslim fanatics acknowledge that the flotilla was not a "humanitarian aid” issue; it was a clear effort to force Israel to defend its nation. The PR intent was to make Israel the loser, even if only in the media war.

Obama has been impotent to raise support worldwide against Iran’s nuclear program. Now Israel may soon be faced with having to stop an Iranian vessel loaded with the Revolutionary Guard. It may be faced with meeting the challenge of armed Iranian patrol boats opening fire on the Israeli navy. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be foolish to allow a ship from Iran to slip through the blockade and deliver anything to Israel’s sworn enemy, Hamas. It could be laden with anything from war materiel to rockets to the makings of an atomic device.

Intercepting the Mavi Marmara was the intelligent thing to do. Halting any shipment launched from Iranian waters is crucial for Israel’s continued existence. In response to the announcement by the Iranian Red Crescent, an Israeli diplomatic official responded, "If we didn’t let an Irish ship reach Gaza, we are certainly not going to let Iranian ships pass.”

When Israel was attacked by surrounding Arab forces in 1973, Seymour Hersh, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, reported that Prime Minister Meir and her cabinet made the decision to arm nuclear strike aircraft in preparation for action against both Egypt and Syria. Prime Minister Netanyahu may be forced to take a page from Golda Meir’s defense book in order to defend his country.

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Dr. Michael D. Evans is the #1 New York Times bestselling author, and author of Jimmy Carter: The Liberal Left and World Chaos and Atomic Iran.