Iran is marching forward – with more threats – now backed by troubling action – putting Israel and the United States at greater risk than ever before.

In a new posting – an Iranian website – with ties to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, spells out a legal and religious argument on why it must destroy Israel. The new posting says opportunity must not be lost to remove “this corrupting material. It is a ‘jurisprudential justification’ to kill all the Jews and annihilate Israel, and in that, the Islamic government of Iran must take the helm.” Of course, that comes just days after the Ayatollah called Israel a “cancer tumor” that “definitely will be cut off.”

There are now reports that at least one top Iranian official is recommending a pre-emptive strike against Israel – sooner rather than later. What’s more, Iran is beefing up its armaments with a move toward mass producing cruise missiles that could fly at low altitudes to avoid detection. At the same time, there’s growing concern that Iran is expanding its military reach. A senior Israeli official believes a missile testing site inside Iran destroyed by an explosion three months ago actually was producing long-range missiles, capable of striking the U.S.

All of this is happening as Iran’s Revolutionary Guard issues new threats to hit any country that is used as a launch pad to strike Iran. “Any spot used by the enemy for hostile operations against Iran will be subjected to retaliatory aggression by our armed forces,” said Hossein Salami, deputy head of the elite Revolutionary Guards.

Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu understands that the only way to guarantee security in the Middle East is for Israel to continue to build-up its military strength. “In such a region, the only thing that ensures our existence, security and prosperity is our strength,” Netanyahu told his cabinet in Jerusalem. “We are obligated to continue to develop the military, economic and social strength of the state of Israel.”

Today, President Obama signed off on new sanctions against Iran – targeting the corrupt Iran Central Bank. That is a positive development. And, in an interview before the Super Bowl, the President addressed the Iranian situation and said the U.S. has removed no option from consideration in dealing with Iran. “I don’t think that Israel has made a decision on what they need to do,” the president said. “We are going to make sure that we work in lock step, as we proceed to try to solve this –  hopefully, diplomatically.”

While I am encouraged by the President’s new comments of concern about Israel, the fact is that diplomacy with a nation like Iran is not likely to work. Does the President really think Iran is going to sit down at a negotiating table and reverse a foundational tenant of its foreign policy – the continual threat to wipe Israel off the map? Diplomacy is not in the vocabulary of a nation that is fast-tracking the development of nuclear weapons and racing to expand and strengthen its conventional weaponry.

The President needs to understand that this is not the time for political posturing. This is the time to show our unequivocal support for Israel.

We’re sending a strong message to the President: Stand with Israel. Israel must be permitted to defend itself. The time is now to ensure that Iran does not obtain nuclear weapons. In fact, most Americans agree, with 54 percent in support of an attack to take out Iran’s nuclear facilities.

We’re urging President Obama to make a strong public declaration that America will support any military action Israel deems necessary to defend the Israeli people. More than 2,000 of you already have signed on to our petition. If you haven’t done so yet, please add your name today.

Jay Sekulow