Is Bibi Bluffing?

Fallows explains why he thinks he is:

Even Netanyahu must see that no nation fashions a long-term peace for itself with a foreign policy based exclusively on "hard" power. That lasts for a while, but only so long. And if Netanyahu applies a "hard power" "solution" to the Iranian problem – a bombing run that, at best, buys a few years of time- but in exchange undermines Israel's long-run wellbeing, he will have done something very damaging for his nation. A crucial element of that well-being is of course Israel's ties with the only ally that matters, the United States. If an Israeli prime minister launches a "discretionary war" that his main ally plainly does not want, and that has tremendous open-ended potential to damage America and its interests, how is this not a disastrous decision for his country.

Goldberg disagrees – largely because of post-Holocaust psychology. I worry that foreign policy based on collective if completely understandable PTSD is not the best guide to a sane and self-interested foreign policy.