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February 13, 2012
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Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
Dec. 3, 2003
/ 8 Kislev, 5764
Atomic reaction
By Zev Chafets
Once before, Israel sounded the alarm about nuclear proliferation in the Mideast and was ignored. When they acted to stop it, they were condemned — but were, ultimately, proven correct. Is history about to repeat itself?
http://www.jewishworldreview.com |
Recently, supporters of Israel were outraged to learn that
according to a poll conducted by the European Commission, 59% of
Europeans regard the Jewish state as the single greatest threat to world
peace.
This statistic has been loudly denounced as yet another example — as if
more were needed — of Europe's chronic anti-Semitism.
And yet the Europeans aren't necessarily wrong about the threat to
their security. In fact, nothing imperils world peace, such as it is, more
than Israel's disinclination to be the target of Iranian nuclear weapons.
In the past few weeks, Israeli officials have made a series of
declarations that they won't permit Iran to get its hands on atomic
weapons. These statements should be taken with extreme seriousness,
because they echo similar warnings on the eve of Israel's decisive 1981
air strike on an Iraqi nuclear reactor.
This attack — although not Saddam Hussein's virtually unopposed
effort to get his hands on nukes — was denounced by the entire world.
But the following day, an unrepentant Menachem Begin held a press
conference in Jerusalem. The Israeli prime minister announced that
Israel would not sit back idly while its enemies developed tools of
extermination. Although he didn't use the term, he was essentially
promulgating a policy of regional preemption.
Not all Israelis agreed with this policy. Indeed, many senior Israeli
leaders had opposed the attack itself. Some generals thought it was
operationally impossible. Diplomats were concerned that it would
inspire a horrific international response.
Begin listened to the naysayers, weighed his own understanding of the
responsibilities, post-Auschwitz, of an Israeli prime minister and went
ahead. He wouldn't have done it without the strong support of his
minister of defense, Ariel Sharon.
Fast-forward 22 years. Sharon, now prime minister himself, again faces
the prospect of nuclear weapons in the hands of a radical Islamic
enemy, Iran. And suddenly the Begin Doctrine — dormant for a
generation - is back on full display.
On Nov. 17, Meir Dagan, head of the Mossad, Israel's CIA, met with the
Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Security Committee. Reportedly, it was
the first time in 18 years a Mossad chief has done so.
Committee proceedings are supposed to be secret, but they always
leak, and Dagan's testimony was no exception. He warned lawmakers
that Iran is on the verge of obtaining nuclear weapons, a prospect
Israel cannot accept.
"Such weapons pose, for the first time, an existential threat to Israel,"
Dagan told the committee, according to an Israeli newspaper report.
Dagan is extremely close to Prime Minister Sharon. He wouldn't have
said such a thing - or even met with the Knesset panel — without
authorization from the prime minister.
A few days before this meeting, Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz
appeared before a think tank in Washington and delivered a similar
message. He said that he believes the Iranians are no more than a year
from "the point of no return."
Last week, Sharon himself carried the warning to the European Union.
He told his friend Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's prime minister and the
current president of the EU, that Iran's nuclear program poses a dire
threat not only to Israel, but Europe and the rest of the world.
Why all these statements now? After all, Israel has suspected for years
that Iran wants nukes — and what it wants them for. In December 2001,
for example, Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iran's second in command,
publicly bragged about the efficacy of a doomsday weapon. "The
application of an atomic bomb would not leave anything in Israel, but
the same thing would just produce damages in the Muslim world," he
told a Jerusalem Day crowd in Tehran.
Israel's threats are obviously an attempt to influence current debate at
the International Atomic Energy Agency, which recently conceded
that Iran has been concealing the nature and extent of its nuclear
program for the past 18 years.
Iran says it is only interested in atoms for peace, but no one believes
this. The Iranians already have vast amounts of energy. And Tehran
has been caught with equipment containing weapons-grade enriched
uranium. The only question is, what to do about it.
The United States wants the atomic energy agency to take strong
measures, including the possibility of sanctions. Not surprisingly, the
Europeans want a much softer approach. One of America's talking
points is that the agency had better move before Israel takes matters
into its own hands.
Israel is on board with the American diplomatic strategy, for now. But
it would be a mistake to dismiss the revival of the Begin Doctrine as
merely a ploy. Israeli concerns are, if anything, more acute today than
they were in 1981. In the first Gulf War, Israeli cities were hit by Iraqi
Scuds, an experience that powerfully concentrated the Israeli mind.
Iranian missiles have the range to hit the same targets. Even more
frightening, Tehran could hand off nukes to its Hezbollah proxy.
Both possibilities are, from Israel's point of view, life-threatening.
There's no doubt Jerusalem would prefer to have this danger removed
by the international community. But if the world ignores its
responsibility, Israel won't simply shrug and hope for the best. It will
very likely act on its own - this time, perhaps, with tacit American
approval.
One hopes the Begin Doctrine will work as well as it did in 1981. If not
and things get messy, well, at least 59% of Europeans won't be
surprised.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Zev Chafets is a columnist for The New York Daily News. Comment by clicking here.
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© 2003, NY Daily News
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