By Tom Ryan, Kansas City Star Reader Advisory Panel

Israel lives every day with a different view of strategy and security than what we enjoy. Their view begins many places but one can start with appreciating their geography. For them, the adjectives of short and medium, in front of the word missile, mean very little. The operative word is missile.

Today, when Obama, Sarkozy, and Brown stood side by side and made their announcement of what we know about Iran’s nuclear weapon development efforts, they were speaking to Israel primarily. To Israel they said: “We publicly acknowledge what you have been pushing us to tell. There, we’ve said it together. Now, let us begin to talk peace between Israel and the Palestinian State.”

Israel needs to be the masters of timing, for in their reality, time is a gift every day. For the size of their country, Israel’s security reaction time is short. The history they know is different from the history we understand. So, today, this looked like the big three in a huddle of solidarity against Iran.

Instead, consider how they directed their message to Israel, for no matter how passionate and motivated the big three seem, they can never match Israel’s sense of urgency to protect their national survival. Obama understand the passion enough to realize that if we do nothing, Israel will not stand idle.