It also introduces to the series Armin Mueller-Stahl as Israeli Prime Minister Efraim 'Eli' Zahavy, and gives a first, short glimpse of Jay Mohr as conservative talk-show host Taylor Reid.
The President calls off the air strike, averting an international crisis, and invites the Israeli Prime Minister to Washington under the pretext of discussing the settlement of the West Bank.
President Bartlet shares his concerns over proliferation and escalation with the Prime Minister, who says that the submarines are part of an essential second-strike capability against Iran, which he is certain will eventually develop nuclear weapons.
A subplot throughout the episode consists of NASA officials trying to convince Josh Lyman to push the administration and Congress to authorize funding for a potential human mission to Mars.
[3] The NASA subplot includes an official mentioning to Josh the need to launch a probe by a certain time so it can perform a gravitational slingshot at Jupiter and explore the Kuiper belt.
While not named, this describes the real-life New Horizons mission, which, at the time of this episode, was facing administration opposition and a looming launch window for the purpose of a gravity assist from Jupiter.
[4] Coincidentally with the debate conducted in the subplot, the actual New Horizons mission garnered significant positive publicity for NASA, including display of Pluto images in Times Square.