Israel, Arabs Have a Common Enemy in a Nuclear Iran

But Iran sees the largest target of opportunity as Lebanon. It aims to destroy Lebanon's historic balance as an Arab country with an affinity for the West. Tehran sees an opportunity to tip that balance between the pro-Western orientation advocated by Christians and the Druze and the pro-Nasserist, anti-Western orientation favored by some of the Muslims, the most rapidly growing part of the population. Iran is infusing massive amounts to back a coalition led by Hezbollah and including former Gen. Michel Aoun, a Christian, in June's general election. Tehran's goal is to transform Lebanon and shift it to the pro-Iran column as a Shiite-dominated country under Islamic law. Should Hezbollah and its supporters win a significant majority, it would constitute a milestone in that quest. Hezbollah, in short, seeks a new election law that would establish an Islamic state run by Hezbollah.

In the new Hezbollah platform, there is no reference to its militia and its weapons, nor is there any expression of willingness to dismantle its military capability and integrate it into the Lebanese armed forces. Rather, the group wishes to retain its power in order to change Lebanon's political system and at the same time increase the military threat on Israel's northern border. 

A Shiite axis of evil controlled by Iran is not a remote prospect. A year ago, when the Lebanese government tried to dismantle Hezbollah's independent communications infrastructure, Hezbollah effected a brutal takeover of Beirut. Clearly, what Hezbollah is doing is not in the interest of Lebanon or the region. The Arab states are understandably opposed to Hezbollah's takeover of Lebanon and, equally, to Hamas's designs to take over the Palestinian Authority in next year's election on the West Bank and Gaza. Should Iran succeed in both elections, Israel would have Hamas on the south, Hezbollah on the north, and Hamas on the West.

These are the forces that have provided the seeds for a delicate new alliance based on shared national interests among the United States, the Sunni Arab countries, and Israel—an alliance that can now change the entire political path to secure the stability of the region.

The Arab countries, headed by Egypt, realize this battle with Iran requires cooperation—including, perhaps, with Israel. This hasn't happened since Israel yielded Sinai after the Yom Kippur War. Israel possesses not only a deterrent military component against a nuclear Iran, should that come to pass in the face of Western disunity, but also an intelligence component for effective defense. So, for the first time, Israel, Egypt, and other Arab countries are on the same side of the fence against a common enemy that poses a strategic threat.

This shifts priorities from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the fate of the entire region as a hostage to Iran. As it has long been said in the Middle East, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Check out our political cartoons.

• Read more by Mortimer Zuckerman.
• Read more about Iran.
• Read more about the Middle East.