(CBNnews).Israel's Vice Prime Minister Moshe "Bogie" Yaalon wrapped up a fascinating 1 hour, 30 minute appearance at the 2010 Epicenter conference in Philadelphia. I'm here with the CBN News team covering the two-day event, which focuses on Bible prophecy, Israel, and the Middle East, and is organized each year by New York Times bestselling author Joel Rosenberg.
Yaalon received no less than three rousing standing ovations at Epicenter--one lasting for at least two minutes and punctuated by raucous cheers of support. As a former Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces, Yaalon has a reputation for being a serious man who's as tough as they come. But he appeared genuinely impressed and appreciative of the outpouring of love and affection he received from the Epicenter audience.
Yaalon began his speech by outlining Israel's four primary strategic challenges:
1) The growing radical Islamic order in the world, with the Iran/Syria/Hezbollah/Hamas/Palestinian Islamic Jihad axis on one hand (and Turkey's increased orientation toward that group), and the Al Qaeda/Taliban wing of the worldwide jihadist movement on the other.
2) The international effort to de-legitimize Israel's very existence, which Yaalon said is being spearheaded by radical Islamists, the radical Left and Arab nationalists.
3) The international acceptance of the "Palestinian narrative," which casts Israel as the colonialist occupiers and Palestinians as eternally oppressed victims (the Helen Thomas worldview).
4) Last, and perhaps most importantly, Yaalon listed maintaining Israel's "close and special relationship" with the United States and "closing gaps which may have temporarily opened "between the two sides."
Yaalon said that intelligence sharing and cooperation between the U.S. and Israel saves American and Israeli lives on a daily basis.
"Divided we are weak," he said. "And our enemies can take advantage of us. Only through unity can we defeat the forces of radical Islam. And only through unity can we succeed in empowering the moderate elements of Palestinian society and other Arab societies so crucial to attaining peace."
Yaalon added: "In the coming months, we are going to see decisive moments in each of these areas.
Below are some of the highlights regarding Iran:
--Yaalon stated that "by one way or the other, the military nuclear project in Iran should be stopped--the sooner, the better."Yaalon said (surprisingly, I thought) that he believes when forced to choose between the bomb and survival, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadenijad would choose survival. When asked to elaborate by Rosenberg, Yaalon said the Supreme Leader, Ali Khameini, ultimately makes the decisions in Iran, not A-jad. He stated that in 2003, in the wake of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Khameini decided to suspend Iran's nuclear program. He said that Iran restarted its nuclear program in 2005, when the regime realized, in Yaalon's words, that "the United States lost its political stomach."--Yaalon said bluntly that he believes Iran's regime is "not sure that there is a will" on the part of the United States right now to exercise the military option against Iran's nuclear facilities.--When asked if he felt the Obama administration was open to military action against Iran, Yaalon said that, according to the traditions of Israel's forefathers, righteous people hope that the job might be done by others. On the other hand, he said, there is another old saying that goes like this: "If I'm not for myself, then who is for me?" He added, "So we should be ready."--Yaalon believes there is still time to stop Iran's nuclear program through non-military means, but that it depends on the West.--Yaalon believes that the Russian government and the Iranian regime have in the past had a "kind of modus vivendi," with Russia supporting Iran under the condition that Iran would not be involved in terrorist activity in the former Soviet states. He said, though, that he is encouraged by Russia's willingness to get on board with sanctions against Iran.