As terrible as Palestinian suicide bombers and Hizbollah’s Katusha rockets are, I have never been worried that they would destroy Israel. Those weapons, even when used en masse as in the Lebanon war this past summer, could not destroy the Jewish State.
A single, large nuclear weapon developed by Iran, however, would have the capacity to annihilate Israel (along with significant parts of the neighboring countries). And that is what makes Iran such an existential threat.
Moreover, everyone knows where Hizbollah and extremist Palestinians stand: They want Israel to be destroyed. There is no ambiguity.
Iran, however, is a question mark. No one really knows what to make of the country’s attitude towards Israel right now, and the devil you know is always less scary than the devil you don’t.
All we know for certain is the following:
1. Iran is pursuing nuclear technology for its own internal energy uses, for the construction of nuclear weapons, or both;
2. Iran’s president has made statements implying that Israel should be — and will be – destroyed; and
3. Iran supports, funds and trains Hizbollah.
Any statements beyond these three, however, are blind guesses at worst or informed opinions at best because there are many unanswered questions.
Does the Iranian president actually believe his rhetoric? Is he playing to an anti-Israeli constituency in Iran (if so, it seems to be failing since his supporters fared poorly in the most recent elections)? What does the ayatollah, who holds the reins of military power, think? Is Iran’s president saying publicly what the ayatollah thinks privately, or is the ayatollah merely letting him have his fun?
Perhaps the last scenario is correct. As Azar Nafisi, the author of “Reading Lolita in Tehran,” said in this weekend’s New York Times: “All the talk is about Mr. Ahmadinejad, he’s become the George Clooney of the political world. I think he’s having the best time of his life.”
We can only hope.
