Dark Clouds of Fear: Iran and Israel

The Deputy Defense Secretary of Israel, Ephraim Sneh, gave a chilling interview, published today in the Jerusalem Post.  He says that Iran's leadership must be challenged, if not attacked militarily, because even a peaceful Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would "be able to kill the Zionist dream without pushing a button."

Somehow Israel having 400 nuclear warheads and a determination to destroy the government and unitary state of Iran is a force for good, but Iran with no nuclear warheads and a rhetorical tendency to dismiss the permanence of Israeli statehood is a force for evil.  

Sneh thinks that an unchecked Iran will dissuade further Jewish resettlement to Israel, deter Jewish family holidaymakers, and cause young Israelis to seek opportunities elsewhere.  Frankly, if Sneh's fears are well grounded then Ahmadinejad is correct that Israel will fade away in the sweep of coming historical, geopolitical and demographic changes.

I'm neither Israeli nor Iranian, neither Jewish nor Muslim, and I don't much like either country's leadership.  That said, Sneh and his neocon, zionist ilk scare me much more than the mullahs.