Now that Netanyahu has won the Israeli elections, it's time to decide what the US and the international community will do.

* During his campaign Netanyahu said he would never allow a Palestinian state. Considering his policies over the years, it seems clear this means he's been lying to the international community that he was willing to negotiate. Certainly, we can't trust anything he says. (If he was merely lying to Israel's voters, that doesn't make him a good ally either.)

* His speech to Congress disrespected our country and the international community's negotiations with Iran.

* Even if he didn't tell the "47 traitors" to send the letter to Iran, his visit clearly prompted the letter. His actions put negotiations at risk and made the situation worse.

* His speech to Congress was also a trick he used to circumvent Israel's election laws. Israel limit's candidates' air time in the month before an election. Netanyahu's stunt gave him extra air time as 'news". All he had to do was schedule the speech two weeks earlier or later (or send someone who wasn't a candidate) to avoid the election rule conflict. He chose to thumb his nose at the rules.

* Netanyahu's shrill campaign against Iran is also destabilizing. Although Israel doesn't have international authorization to have nuclear weapons, experts believe Israel has a substantial nuclear arsenal. (See these sources: Wikipedia , BBC news , and this opinion piece from the Washington Post ) It's at Wikipedia - clearly, Iran, Arab nations and any nuclear wannabes know this. So, from their point of view, Israel is jumping up and down screaming, "We can have nukes without international approval but you can't have them under any circumstances!" Although the US government and media tends to maintain total silence about it, Israel is a nuclear rogue state, and with it behaving this way that will destabilize international relations. We need to address that.

* The time period in which experts believe Israel was preparing for its first nuclear weapons is around the time of the 1967 war. It's been speculated that Arab states may have gotten wind of it and attacked because of that. I'm not aware of any solid evidence of this, but it's worth considering that the Occupied Territories may be the result of an effort to stop Israel from becoming a nuclear rogue state. (I don't mean to suggest the Arab states acted on altruistic motives, but this is not an evil motive either.)

We can't continue to actively or passively support this.

-- No military aid whatsoever to Israel

-- Restrict intelligence sharing with Israel

-- No financial aid to Israel

-- Trade restrictions which would apply to other nations under these conditions

-- Present UN resolutions to give full member status to Palestinians - Israel has said it will never negotiate it

-- Demand international nuclear inspection of Israel. Impose the same sanction for refusal to cooperate as we would for Iran. Ask international authorities to decide what - if any - nuclear arsenal Israel will be permitted

