What if Israel's leaders and pundits had reacted to the Iranian nuclear program in a completely different way than they actually have? In an op-ed published in Haaretz, Public Policy Scholar Avner Cohen questions his country's treatment of the Iranian nuclear issue.
What if our leaders and pundits had reacted to the Iranian nuclear program in a completely different way than they actually have? What if they had not viewed an Iranian bomb as an "existential threat" and instead treated it as something that, even if it became a reality, would be a major global political problem, but not a military threat—because Iran (like every other nuclear state) would never be able to use a nuclear bomb as an operational military weapon?
What if Israel had treated Iran's nuclear project as an exhibitionist, even childish, attempt by a nation mired in a deep identity crisis to exploit the prestige and mystique of nuclear power to create a national ethos of technological progress at home, as well as a diplomatic miracle cure that would enable it to challenge the West and move to the center of the international stage?
Read the full article free at Haaretz.
