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Last update - 09:25 05/11/2007
No exceptions
By Akiva Eldar
Tags: defense, Nuclear weapons 

How can a country, which according to endless foreign reports has kept secret for years several atomic weapons, manage to rally the international community in a struggle against a neighboring country that insists on acquiring nuclear energy? What do Israeli politicians answer to those asking why Iran should not be allowed to acquire the same armaments that are already in the arsenals of neighboring countries, like Pakistan and India? The common response is that "Iran is the sole country whose president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, declares openly that he intends to destroy the state of Israel." This argument is a double-edged sword, par excellence, used by a country that sports a radiant nuclear glow (according to foreign press reports, of course), and who has a senior minister, one assigned to dealing with strategic threats, who has threatened to bomb the Aswan Dam.

What will Israel's policy - or for that matter, America's - be, if in Iran's upcoming elections, Ahmadinejad were to give way to a more moderate leader, who were to announce that Iran recognizes Israel's right to exist within the 1967, borders? Will Iran become one of the "moderate" Muslim states, like, say, Pakistan, which is allowed to develop nuclear weapons? There was a day when our friend the Shah ruled Iran, and then came the Ayatollahs, with whom we were happy to trade arms, until the whole affair became muddled. Regimes come and go, but nuclear weapons are forever.

According to foreign reports, Israel recently bombed a Syrian nuclear reactor that was under construction. It was reported that the United States approved the attack on the Syrian installation and went so far as to encourage Israel's violation of Syrian sovereignty. Syria is part of the axis of evil, mostly because of its ties with Iran, its involvement in Lebanon and its intentional failure to prevent the entry of anti-American extremists into Iraq. But it is a well-known phenomenon, in the world in general and in the Middle East in particular, that an evil leader can become a popular friend overnight. What will the Israeli and American policies be toward the Syrian nuclear program if Assad were to announce his intentions to step away from Iran, not interfere in Lebanon and seal the border with Iraq?
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A visit to Jerusalem 30 years ago transformed Anwar Sadat from enemy No. 1 into a hero for peace. President Hosni Mubarak is considered an astute, peace-loving leader, and a friend of the west. He was even democratically elected. Sort of. But what would happen if one day, when the nuclear reactor is operational in the middle of Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood does to Mubarak's heir what their Hamas brethren did to Mahmoud Abbas? Will we fly over to bomb the Egyptian nuclear reactor? And how does the free world need to deal with Pakistan, if its nuclear weapons fall under the control of Islamists? Is anyone proposing to preempt and invade Islamabad?

Jordan's King Abdullah said several months ago that most of the countries in the region, including his own, would begin developing nuclear energy. He was quick to stress that the Hashemite Kingdom would obviously place its nuclear installations under international supervision. He did not need to point out that this was "contrary to Israel."

The question is not therefore whether the Middle East is going nuclear, but when it will happen. The demand for a sanity certificate as a precondition for joining this club ensures that even the opponents of the Iranian regime will back Ahmadinejad against the entire world. Visitors who recently were in Tehran say that intellectuals, who did not hide their displeasure with their president, have expressed full support for his position on the nuclear question. They said that relinquishing the nuclear program would be interpreted as an admission that Iran belongs to the club of pariah nations and persisted in asking, "Why should it be forbidden to Iran when it is permitted to Pakistan and Israel?"

The struggle against the Iranian and Syrian nuclear programs, and in the future perhaps the Egyptian and Jordanian programs, is meant to divert attention from the real problem in the Middle East - the war for hegemony over the region between the religious-extremist camp and the moderate-pragmatic one. The Annapolis summit is an excellent opportunity to update the formula for peace posed by the Arab League and conclude that when the conflict is resolved, the Middle East will be free of nuclear weapons. No exceptions!
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  1.   AND TO NUCS EGYPT 09:40  |  indrajaya 05/11/07
  2.   Israel should come clean about her own nuclear weapons 10:00  |  Natallie Durson 05/11/07
  3.   Akiva Eldar congratulation for this strong one 10:08  |  Khalil Abo Mohammad 05/11/07
  4.   Isn`t it amazing that Israel still 10:09  |  Simon 05/11/07
  5.   Akiva Eldar the "pacifist" trying to emulate Chamberlain... 10:14  |  S 05/11/07
  6.   The nuclear Middle East 10:26  |  Shlomo from Tel Aviv 05/11/07
  7.   mutual assured destruction 11:08  |  realism 05/11/07
  8.   what Israel realy wants ? 11:31  |  Atilla Karagözoğlu 05/11/07
  9.   Everyone in the ME **NEEDS** nukes 11:37  |  spyguy 05/11/07
  10.   Iranian Nukes are All About OIL 12:05  |  Klaudia 05/11/07
  11.   How many Israel are there ? 12:08  |  Atilla 05/11/07
  12.   ONE ISRAEL...ONE DREAM ...ONE WISH 12:13  |  Atilla 05/11/07
  13.   nukes 12:24  |  sam wilson 05/11/07
  14.   Shlomo..What makes the west and Israeli civilized 12:57  |  Honest man 05/11/07
  15.   Realism/ #7 13:18  |  Anne 05/11/07
  16.   rationales.... 13:19  |  Tess 05/11/07
  17.   The problem with nukes 13:37  |  Mark Lincoln 05/11/07
  18.   Klaudia #10 13:41  |  Tess 05/11/07
  19.   #9 Spyguy NEEDS education 14:32  |  Hastaroth 05/11/07
  20.   We afraid of nuclears BUT THE GOD ! 15:50  |  Atilla 05/11/07
  21.   Eldar pretends to be naive 15:51  |  peter 05/11/07
  22.   ELDAR,YOU`RE A FOOL IF YOU DON`T GET PAID FOR THIS BY HAMANDINEJA 15:57  |  VOICE of MOSHIACH))) 05/11/07
  23.   who wins ? who is winning ? who is rulling world ? 16:17  |  ... 05/11/07
  24.   WHY WE STILL HAVE CAMPS (REFUGEE) ? 16:19  |  Atilla Karagözoğlu 05/11/07
  25.   Iran should be stopped 16:26  |  Tosefta 05/11/07
  26.   It is not the fact Iran is nuclear armed 16:26  |  Chris Linthwaite 05/11/07
  27.   # 19 Hastaroth 16:50  |  Harald 05/11/07
  28.   "Update the formula for peace"? 17:38  |  Philip 05/11/07
  29.   Israel MUST make peace MUST...it is become to dangerous not to 17:50  |  Romantic Lover 05/11/07
  30.   Shlomo- you can`t possibly believe that 17:55  |  Romantic Lover 05/11/07
  31.   Herzl`s Utopia? 18:29  |  new_york_loner 05/11/07
  32.   A Present for Ahmadinejad 19:34  |  Tookie 05/11/07
  33.   Tosefta 19:44  |  Walid 05/11/07
  34.   OBVIOUSLY THE M.E .WILL BE NUCLEAR 19:50  |  N.Eutron 05/11/07
  35.   Talking about nuclear Pakistan... 19:55  |  Fortuna Benmayor 05/11/07
  36.   Has Akiva Eldar heard of AMIA? 19:59  |  Fortuna Benmayor 05/11/07
  37.   # 2 Akiva misses the main point:signatures under the non-prolifer 20:12  |  Misha 05/11/07
  38.   # 11 How many Kurds are there: Turkish, Iraqi, Irania, Syrian... 20:18  |  Misha 05/11/07
  39.   I suppose so (Walid #33) 20:33  |  Tosefta 05/11/07
  40.   Akiva, Your Israelis are way over reactive ... 20:40  |  Dutch 05/11/07
  41.   #26 hold your breath chris 20:40  |  peter 05/11/07
  42.   Fortuna Benmayor #35 should be read by all on this talkback! 20:48  |  S 05/11/07
  43.   To Tosefta #25 21:42  |  Persian Kitty 05/11/07
  44.   To Tookie #32 21:57  |  Persian Kitty 05/11/07
  45.   Rights and their loss (Persian Kitty #43) 22:27  |  Tosefta 05/11/07
  46.   The question is if Israel can afford to allow ME going nuclear 22:55  |  Genuine Tosefta 05/11/07
  47.   Yearning for Israel`s destruction Ghastly Impostor #25, 39 22:58  |  Genuine Tosefta 05/11/07
  48.   Atilla Liman you better run for cover to nearest nuclear shelter 23:01  |  Genuine Tosefta 05/11/07
  49.   Kitty once Iran has it, will use it,what doYou suggest Israel do? 23:11  |  Genuine Tosefta 05/11/07
  50.   PETER - By who...Cananda? 23:35  |  AH 05/11/07
  51.   Genuine Tosefta - Israel cannot allow it? 23:39  |  HA HA! 05/11/07
  52.   Iran, the bomb, and El-Baradei`s wife 23:58  |  Myron E. 05/11/07
  53.   Fake ("Genuine") Tosefta Alert 00:20  |  Tosefta 06/11/07
  54.   There is not option than peace 00:23  |  Virgilio 06/11/07
  55.   S and Fortuna 00:31  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 06/11/07
  56.   Don`t do anything foolish 00:33  |  Edith 06/11/07
  57.   The Real Question 00:51  |  Jose Breda 06/11/07
  58.   MUST READ: Some Arab leaders WOULD launch a nuclear attack 01:09  |  Sam 06/11/07
  59.   Dear Mr. Tookie in Mass 01:39  |  David James Vickery 06/11/07
  60.   51 Poke fun as much as you want,you miss the most important point 01:51  |  Genuine Tosefta 06/11/07
  61.   to#49 Genuine Tosfeta 02:32  |  John 06/11/07
  62.   no exceptions 02:33  |  Captain Zen 06/11/07
  63.   to#52 Myron E, very shallow thinking 02:48  |  John 06/11/07
  64.   Persian Kitty 03:04  |  Danite 06/11/07
  65.   The ME cannot become nuclear 03:11  |  Frank 06/11/07
  66.   To Danite & Genuine Tosefta 03:42  |  Persian Kitty 06/11/07
  67.   To Geniune Tosefta 04:00  |  Persian Kitty 06/11/07
  68.   Tosefta - Israel maintains 04:47  |  Mark Lincoln 06/11/07
  69.   Tosefta - future regimes 04:52  |  Mark Lincoln 06/11/07
  70.   Tosefta - the NPT 04:55  |  Mark Lincoln 06/11/07
  71.   Tosefta - the NPT 04:55  |  Mark Lincoln