Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's upcoming address at Congress serves as a signal to Iran that Israel is not going to let the nuclear issue "fade into the background," Ruthie Blum argues. Photo: Cherie Cullen.

While the brouhaha in the United States and Israel over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s scheduled address before Congress on March 3 continues to gain momentum, the mullahs in Iran are having a field day.

There is nothing that Islamists cherish more than watching the West implode. They especially enjoy seeing sparks fly between Washington and Jerusalem, the power centers of the “Great Satan” America and the “Small Satan” Israel. Their joy knows no bounds when the animosity of US President Barack Obama toward Netanyahu flares up with the spin of each new centrifuge.

The deadline for a deal on their nuclear program — extended each time the P5+1 countries (the US, Russia, China, the UK, France and Germany) hit an impasse with representatives of the Islamic republic — is currently slated for July. But, like Obama and his European partners in the negotiation charade, the regime in Tehran is anxious to get the documents on a treaty signed before then.

This is because the parties are nearing an agreement that would allow for the mass production of atom bombs on the one hand, and enable all concerned to perpetuate the myth that Iran’s nuclear program is for peaceful purposes on the other.

Because Obama is hell-bent on “giving diplomacy a chance,” his opponents in Congress who want to step up sanctions against Iran, rather than appease a sworn enemy, are trying to get a majority to overrule him.

That is how House Speaker John Boehner came to invite Netanyahu to give a speech on the existential threat posed by a fanatical religious regime with nuclear weapons.

This is more of a gesture than anything else. Obama vowed last month, in his State of the Union address, to veto any such effort. He may be a lame duck who prefers playing golf to leading the free world, but he has made it clear that he is going to quack hard at anyone who gets in his way.

Still, even gestures carry weight. It is crucial for sane politicians and members of the public to have spelled out for them what they already know in their hearts and minds to be true. Netanyahu has many weaknesses, but one of his greatest strengths is the ability to articulate a situation and a position in plain language. For this alone, his trip to Washington will have been worth all the hyped-up controversy.

More importantly, it will serve as a signal to the Iranian regime that Israel is not going to let the nuclear issue fade into the background, due to worldwide hysteria over Islamic State atrocities broadcast on YouTube.

Critics of Netanyahu at home and abroad are accusing him of using his speech to Congress as a political ploy. They point to the timing of the event — two weeks ahead of the March 17 general election in Israel — as evidence. Obama even made reference to this at a joint press conference with the German chancellor on Monday.

“As much as I love Angela [Merkel], if she was two weeks away from an election, she probably would not have received an invitation to the White House, and I suspect she wouldn’t have asked for one,” he said. (Pretty ironic, considering that Merkel had just requested of Obama that he hold off providing military aid to Ukraine, so she could continue giving shuttle diplomacy between Moscow and Kiev a chance.)

Netanyahu does not deny that the timing of his proposed speech is relevant. He is in a hurry to issue a harsh warning to the world about Iran’s backing of terrorism and nuclear progress before the US and Europe completely capitulate to its terms for an agreement at the end of next month — something that has been hinted at by all concerned.

And while on the subject of timing, this week marks the 36th anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. So-called “moderate” President Hassan Rouhani urged all Iranians to take to the streets and rally around the regime on Wednesday (Feb. 11) to show their support for the Islamist endeavor. This began with the ousting of the pro-Western Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, in favor of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who vowed to destroy America, Europe and Israel.

The old guy must be sleeping soundly in his grave knowing that things are proceeding as envisioned. The only bug in the program at the moment is Israeli determination not to let bloodthirsty Islamists wipe the Jewish state off the map and bring Western civilization into the Dark Ages.

Turning Netanyahu’s invitation to address Congress into a key bone of contention is just what Rouhani and his mullah puppeteers want: the opportunity to turn “The Star Spangled Banner” into an Islamist anthem — with Iranian “rockets’ red glare” and nuclear “bombs bursting in air” — while everyone’s attention is focused elsewhere.

Ruthie Blum is the Web editor of Voice of Israel radio (voiceofisrael.com). This article was originally published by Israel Hayom.