[Pistolenschutze]

A most interesting post, Shimon. Thanks for your thoughts. For what it is worth, I agree with everything you said. Israel's nuclear capacity has acted as the ultimate deterrent in the Middle East for the last 40 years, and it is indeed true that Israel has never used its possession of such weapons as a threat against its neighbors or anyone else. Indeed, as I recall, Israel has never officially acknowledged that it even possesses nuclear weapons, though the fact that it does has been an open secret for a very long while.

To put it simply, Israel cannot afford to allow Iran, or any other Middle Eastern power for that matter, to go nuclear. To do so would be tantamount to suicide. I think Israel will strike, and strike soon if the US does not do it first. If and when that happens, I'll be the first one in line applauding. To hit those nuclear sites would be only self-defense in its purest form, and to hell with what the world thinks about it.