The founders of Israel aimed to create a state which would be a "light to the nations." It is the perverse distortion of

The people, the state and the nation of Israel could never consider killing sixty million civilians in retaliation.

 history and, in fact, the very work of evil that Israel is delegitimized and stigmatized as the very opposite of what it is meant to be - and to a degree, what it is - by non-democratic totalitarian radical nations throughout the world.


But what others consider Israel to be can never essentially define Israel’s true identity. Israel’s true identity is in being true to the moral principles given in its covenant with the Divine. Thus, when we face a possible threat of annihilation from a neighbor, we must nonetheless hold those principles as first consideration.


Recently, an Israeli cabinet minister, Binyamin "Fuad" Ben-Eliezer, threatened Iran that should it dare to use weapons of mass destruction against Israel, Israel would retaliate and destroy Iran. Iran is a nation of more than sixty million people.


The threat of the minister, of course, was meant to deter Iran. It is doubtful that it will do that. And, in fact, Iran will probably use the minister’s statements to argue that it is under threat from Israel and, therefore, should be permitted its nuclear weapons program.


But that is beside the point being made here. The people, the state and the nation of Israel could never consider killing sixty million civilians in retaliation. Retaliation of this kind is not a real option for us. It would mean our acting in a way which violates the very essence of our nature. It would darken our history forever. It would make us ‘evil’ in the eyes of Man and God.


Therefore, our moral imperative is to prevent Iran from attaining a nuclear option. And here, of course, our own survival is the first moral principle. We cannot attempt to deter Iran when we, in effect, cannot morally and realistically carry out our own threat; i.e., when we in effect have no real deterrence. Therefore, we must act as if preemption is our only real option. This means that we must stop Iran before it attains nuclear weapons. For once it does, we will be in an impossible situation, one in which we have no deterrent which is moral and in accordance with what we ourselves are, and are required to be in history.


It would seem that the burden of critical decisionmaking is on the government of Israel.



As it stands now, Iran is on the verge of attaining nuclear weapons. The Bush Administration has, according to even its fervent supporters like Charles Krauthammer, reneged on its commitment to prevent a nuclear Iran. There is a remote possibility George Bush may change his mind, given Iranian intervention in southern Iraq and Iran's total ignoring of United Nations sanctions; but it seems unlikely.


Therefore, it would seem that the burden of critical decisionmaking is on the government of Israel. But can an Israeli government that is unwilling to take decisive action against ragtag Hamas terrorists in Gaza, be trusted to engage in the kind of operation required to degrade Iran’s nuclear program? It is not clear.


There are those in the Israeli government and military who bear a tremendously heavy responsibility in this decision. Let us pray with all our hearts and souls that they will act wisely, for all of us.