Will Israel strike?

While we’re on the subject of conflict in the Middle East, it’s worth pointing out the cover story to this week’s edition of the magazine. It’s by the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, and it deals with the dangerous war of words currently being waged over Iran. Will it tip over into real war? In the eye-catching conclusion to his article, Goldberg suggests so:

‘I thought, before the Netanyahu-Obama summit, that the meeting would delay premature action by Israel against Iran. I believe now that I was mistaken. My sense is that Netanyahu feels the press of history and may well strike at Iran in the coming months. The clues are increasingly obvious. The most obvious, to my mind: the gift Netanyahu brought to Obama at the outset of their meeting. It was a copy of the ancient Scroll of Esther, which tells the story, now commemorated during the holiday of Purim, of how the Jewish people narrowly escaped annihilation at the hands of a perfidious Persian ruler.