If you were Israel, what would you do with regard to Iran?

[Egalitariat]

1. Nothing - Ayatollah/Ahmedinajad's rhetoric is just that. They don't really mean it when they announce their desires to eliminate Israel as a country.

2. Nothing - I believe Iran's leaders when they pinky swear that they're not going to build nuclear weapons.

3. Nothing - the UN is on it. We've got nothing to worry about.

4. Nothing - the Obama Administration won't let anything bad happen to us.

5. Nothing - for some other reason.

6. Blow up their facilities - we don't trust anybody and want to take care of matters ourselves.

[limpyhobbler]

1. you have presented a false choice. There are other options between doing nothing and starting a war.

[quinnox]

59. thank you for nailing the OP

right from the get go.

[Posteritatis]

75. Yep. (nt)

[LiberalEsto]

2. Negotiate. Make peace. Enlist other countries to help bring about peace in the region. nt

[Marrah_G]

10. Bingo

Someone must make the first gesture of peace and ask to sit down and talk.

[backscatter712]

12. Exactly. And it would be helpful...

If they did things like dealing with the I/P issue in a non-psychopathic manner, say by coming up with a settlement that's not too far from the 1967 borders. Maybe if they showed some good faith, other nations would be willing to work with them too...

[Dreamer Tatum]

22. Just this week Iran reiterated its belief that Israel needs to be destroyed.

So, I'm not sure you're being realistic.

[ronnie624]

54. I didn't hear about that.

Can you post a credible source?

[Dreamer Tatum]

65. What, is it a doomsday machine?

They only mean it if they say it every week?

Give me a fucking break. Iran wants Israel gone, as in, does not exist.

[ronnie624]

74. Right, I see.

It's one of those things that everyone just 'knows'; conventional wisdom.

[Dreamer Tatum]

77. No, it's one of those things that Iran has just 'said'

and if you pull your head out of the sand, or out of wherever you have it lodged, you would see that.

[Angleae]

58. What other countries in the region?

The only contries within 1000 miles of Tel Aviv that don't want Isreal eliminated are Greece and Bulgaria.

[LiberalEsto]

63. I said "other countries" period, not other countries in the region.

If you will go back and re-read it, the only time I referred to "region" was concerning bringing peace to the region.

Please read more carefully before jumping to conclusions.

[ronnie624]

64. Whether that is true or not,

it should be obvious it is not going to happen as long as Israel is firmly backed by Western power. Iranians are no more prone to mass suicide than Americans or Europeans.

[MattBaggins]

43. Hi Helen how are you

[slay]

48. What can I say - she was right

[judy]

4. I would declare that possessing nuclear weapons

is endangering all of mankind, and dismantle my own arsenal, stating that there is no reason why one country should be loaded with Nuclear weapons while forbidding another to have the same. No national exceptionalism for anyone.

I would then make overtures to meet with the madman and the Ayatollah, and try my best to explain to them that the survival of the planet is more important than anything else to the Israeli people.

I would do that, and simultaneously do everything I can, in talks and actions to stop all building of settlements in the West Bank (as resolved by the United Nations), I would open up Gaza, and giving the Palestinians back a lot of their land, offer them safety and respect, which is what a lot of the Israeli people want.

Feel free to flame away!

[teddy51]

15. Total agreement with your post, and that is the only way there will be lasting peace

in the world.

[JSnuffy]

34. Saves a lot of time and just give up..

... efficient

[Poll_Blind]

5. LOL- I'm afriad you're only revealing your own narrow-minded thinking on the matter.

Ignoring the non-military strategies used to deal with such countries as North Korea, the Soviet Union (during the cold war) or even countries like Burma either shows you want to keep actual diplomacy out of the discussion or are simply ignorant of it.

PB

[Yooperman]

6. How about -

Returning lands belonging to the Palestinians that have been mandated by the U.N. for decades instead of continued occupation of those lands.

Recognize Palestine as a free and independent state.

This alone would ease tensions and begin the healing process that would allow Iran to accept Israel as a respected government.

[L0oniX]

40. ...

[cherokeeprogressive]

45. In 2000, Ehud Barak offered Arafat 97 percent of the West Bank, and full control of the Gaza Strip -

which he offered to increase by roughly a third, a capital in East Jerusalem, $30 billion in compensation to Palestinian refugees, and the right of return to the new Palestinian state. But a Palestinian state would have meant the end of Arafat's money train, of his role as a leader of the Palestinian people, and of his goal to destroy Israel.

http://www.tomgrossmedia.com/mideastdispatches/archives/000555.html

[Yooperman]

46. All well and good....

However... the U.N. still has determined where the boundaries should be and Israel should comply.

Period. I don't know the exact reasoning behind Arafat refusing this offer and I am not saying in anyway that the Palestinians do not carry some of the blame.

Israel has nukes... and if I were Iran would be very concerned with such an aggressive, impulsive nation having such weapons.

Give back the lands as determined by the U.N. period... no negotiating ... no compromising... recognize the Palestinians as a free and independent people.

I think the way Israel treats the Palestinians would be consider "apartheid" and sanctions should be applied until they comply with U.N. mandates.

MY humble opinion.

[cherokeeprogressive]

49. Isreal has nukes, yes... but I have to disagree with the "aggressive, impulsive nation" assessment.

I really don't think the Israelis have acted out unless they've felt backed into a corner, and they HAVE been attacked.

Arafat refused the offer because it signalled the end of his reign as de-facto leader of the Palestinians. I think that was the reasoning behind the offer in the first place actually.

[superpatriotman]

7. Move to Florida

Ocean views so cheap.

[libodem]

8. STFU

That's what!

[Marrah_G]

9. Extend a hand of friendship to all my nieghbors

Ask that everyone leave the past behind and start fresh. Explain that we all have more in common then we realize and that getting along is in the best interest of all. Then I would let my military to stop talking about bombing Iran. Unless someone does this there will never be peace.

[sarcasmo]

50. It's all about religion, they can't leave the past behind.

[Marrah_G]

78. Yup- sadly no one will let the past go

[tech3149]

11. My response would be effective and cost efficient

Re establish diplomatic relations. Talk is a helluva lot cheaper than bullets and bombs. The more we isolate them and hogtie their economy, the more we drive them to be belligerent and a danger.
The population of Iran is primarily under 30. They want to be a part of the world and the more we isolate them the more strength we give to the tired assed old mullahs.
The nation and the world has much more to gain by welcoming them in to the world community and shunting the power of that miniscule percentage of radicals.
It's better to make friends than strengthen enemies.

For those that think I'm a blind-eyed optimist, just consider this analogy. I've got two neighbors, each have their own problems. One piles up tons of junk, old cars, motorcycles, construction trash. The other has a business I'd love to support but he want's nothing to do with anyone. When I moved back here I went down to say hello, response yea so?. A few months later I see smoke coming from a shed out in the field. Response no biggie we're smoking a pig. No problem with that, I just wanted to make sure they knew what was going on. A few weeks later I was walking the neighbors dog and she was drawn to the hothouses of the other neighbor. Ms X questioned me as some interloper and made me feel like saying hello to a neighbor was some sort of crime.

I know this is long drawn out story but the synopsis is this. One neighbor was someone I could work with to and resolve our disputes, the other just needed to be left alone. He took care of his prop0erty, I took care of mine.
I think that's where we stand with Iran. They are no serious threat to the US unless we want to make them one.
As I've said before, stop pissing in other peoples sandbox and we'll have much fewer enemies.

[Hugabear]

13. Giving up nuclear weapons would be a good start

It's highly hypocritical for Israel to complain about other countries in the region building nukes when they are sitting on their own stockpile.

[Dokkie]

14. I will mind my own busines

since I have 200 illegal nuclear war head and the quote of wiping Israel off the face on the earth is a misquote. It was talking about wishing for the reqime ruling Israel to end. People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones especially ones with 200 glass panels

[Puregonzo1188]

16. A better question--if you were Iran what would you do with Israel? Who has a nuclear weapon and a

history of invading other peoples countries and colonizing other people's land, and clearly has you in their targets?

[FarCenter]

17. Negotiate a mutual defense pact with the other nuclear powers

"An attack on one nuclear power by any nuclear power shall be regarded as an attack on us all."

So if Iran attacks Israel, then all the other nuclear powers are obligated to attack Iran.

This would be enforced by a biological doomsday weapon, such as genetically engineered flu.

[Spider Jerusalem]

18. Were I a Member of the Knesset or an Israeli government minister...

I'd probably be arguing that Iran's nuclear programme represents a clear threat to Israel not because of the chance that they may use nuclear weapons but because of the threat that they might; the spectre of a nuclear-armed Iran recalibrates the regional balance of power in such a way as to create myriad dangers for Israel. Mutual assured destruction is one thing, and would probably (although not certainly) forestall any possibility of nuclear exchange (let's not forget that Israel's last-gasp military plan is called the "Samson option" for a reason). This presumes that a nuclear-armed Iran which, let's also not forget, supports Hezbollah and Hamas with money and weapons, wouldn't assume it now had Israel's hands tied and could use the threat of nuclear exchange in any future regional conflict. So if I were in the Israeli government? Option 6.

[madrchsod]

19. try to restore a political balance in israel and iran

hope the hell some right wing nut ball does`t assassinate who ever tries.

both governments use hatred to control their citizens.

[ZombieHorde]

20. I would use more than one strategy.

The first strategy would be to end the assault on the Palestinian people, and reduce Israel's borders. Then, I would use this as a demonstration of good will, and try to improve relations with all surrounding countries. Basically, I would use a 50-state strategy for the region. This goodwill would then be used in negotiations. Even if goodwill is not created between Israel and Iran, Western countries would probably be more likely to intervene on Israel's behalf if war occurred.

The second strategy would be to get involved financially with surrounding countries. Money seems to be an extremely motivating concept, and I would try to make Israel's loss a financial blow to the region, and to Iran's strongest allies. Having Iran's strongest allies pressuring against military action would be a very good thing for Israel's interests.

The third strategy would be to secretly ask for help from already strong allies, such as the US. The help would be in the form of intelligence and alternative negotiations.

[contrarian22]

35. Been there done that

1. They have reduced territory and got more missles shot at them

2. Iran allies don't care if they go to war, Russia and China can't be damaged financially.

3. The US can't even talk to Iran. Iran has only three goals. 1. destroy Irael
2. Destroy the US 3. Be destroyed for the arrival of the 12th imman.

[ZombieHorde]

37. Giving up at the first sign difficultly is a loosing strategy.

Iran does not have goals in the way you attribute them. They're not Borg.

[FarCenter]

38. Khameni doesn't believe in the 12th imman anymore than the pope believes in saints

These are intelligent, sophisticated people.

There is not a chance that they actually personally believe the stuff they preach to the flock.

[downwardly_mobile]

72. "There is not a chance that they actually personally believe the stuff they preach to the flock."

So sure of that? "Mein Kampf" springs to mind.

[Cali_Democrat]

21. Give up my nukes. n/t

[Warren DeMontague]

23. 7.

I'm not Israel.

[FarCenter]

24. Israel's long run strategic situation is essentially hopeless from a military point of view

The '67 Israel is too small to be defensible. If it expands its borders to all of Palestine, it is still too small to be defensible. It is still only slightly larger than New Jersey.

The more it expands it borders, either:
- it pushes the existing populations out leading to opprobrium for ethnic cleansing,
- it subjugates the populations in cantonments leading to opprobrium for apartheid, or
- it integrates the populations and its "Jewishness", its raison d'etre, is lost.

So it is inconceivable that Israel can maintain its position surrounded by hostile countries by military means.

The only way forward is to:
- reduce the hostility of neighboring states, and
- obtain meaningful guarantees of its borders and tranquility from most if not all of the world's great powers.

Recent Israeli policies and actions have not reduced hostility in the region. Its relations with Turkey have soured, and its relations with Egypt are likely to deteriorate substantially. A sunni takeover in Syria is unlikely to lead to a friendly regime.

Nor has its saber rattling contests with Iran engendered more support in Moscow and Peking.

Israel's future appears bleaker now than a decade or two ago.

[BiggJawn]

25. Trick the United States into attacking them... n/t

[Dreamer Tatum]

27. Israel has proven that it won't use them unless faced with an existential challenge.

I say, let Tehran develop a bomb. The moment they use it, they will cease to exist.

[downwardly_mobile]

73. "Israel has proven that it won't use them unless faced with an existential challenge." - but Iran???

Israel, sure. Iran, or as I really want to much more correctly say, "the Iranian regime" has NOT proven that at all. For one thing, there's no track record (yet) of a nuclear-armed Iran -- that's why this is An Issue right now.

And there are many reasons to believe that perhaps the current Iranian regime WOULD use them in some circumstances even WITHOUT an existential challenge. Or use them when facing the existential challenge (challenge to its existence) that will some day arise when the regime is on the verge of falling because its own people have risen up to challenge it.

[Snake Alchemist]

29. They should completely disarm immediately in a show of good faith. nt

[RZM]

68. LOL

'Good faith' isn't much relevant in grand strategy/international affairs. Iran's response would be to say 'thanks, suckers' and keep on doing what they were doing.

*On Edit*

I would like to add that I think a nuclear-free ME (or world, for that matter) would be a good thing. But Israel unilaterally disarming wouldn't achieve that for long.

[Hawkowl]

30. M.A.D.

Mutually assured destruction. It's worked for the US vs. Russia (USSR). Also notice how the US doesn't attack nuclear powers. Maybe Iran just doesn't want to be attacked.

[Neue Regel]

31. Other:

I would engage in covert operations to disrupt their nuclear program. Like this, for instance:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/iranian-scientist-killed-in-tehran-bomb-attack/2012/01/11/gIQAT1V7pP_story.html

Iranian scientist involved in nuclear program killed in Tehran bomb attack

A scientist linked to Iran’s nuclear program was killed in his car by a bomb-wielding assailant on Wednesday, a bold rush-hour attack that experts say points to a further escalation in a covert campaign targeting the country’s atomic officials and institutions.

The precision hit in a northern Tehran neighborhood killed the 32-year-old chemical engineer employed at Iran’s main uranium-enrichment facility and brought to four the number of Iranian scientists killed by bombs in the past two years. No one asserted responsibility for the bombing, which prompted a swirl of accusations and denials as well as renewed concerns about worsening tensions between Iran and the West.

Iranian officials immediately accused the United States and Israel of orchestrating the attack on scientist Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, who was killed along with his bodyguard when an assailant on a motorcycle slapped a magnetic bomb on his car as he commuted to work, according to Iranian news reports. Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimiblamed the attack on “Zionists” and “those who claim they are against terrorism,” the semiofficial Fars News Agency reported.

But the series of attacks against scientists — all of them employed in fields or institutions relevant to Iran’s nuclear program — underscored the perception of a sophisticated covert campaign to disrupt Iran’s nuclear efforts and intimidate key officials and scientists, according to security analysts and Iran experts. The killing bore strong resemblance to two 2010 attacks on nuclear scientists and came on the same day as a ceremony for the second anniversary of the killing of another professor, Massoud Ali Mohammadi, in an explosion.



These "incidents" would certainly give me pause if I was an Iranian nuclear scientist.

[quakerboy]

32. 7: move to a better neighborhood

or 8: do things that would undermine the hatred of my country. Like finding a way to make allies and even friends in the area. And finding ways to become relatively spotless when it came to my human rights and treatment of enemies.

[MrScorpio]

33. Invite them over for dinner

Play some Scrabble and listen to music.

[jillan]

36. If I was Israel, I would get rid of that asshole Netanyahu before he makes it totally impossible

for peace to my country.

[marmar]

39. :eyesroll:

[MattBaggins]

41. Number 2

Accept the fact that other sovereign Nations will eventually have nuclear weapons. The cat's out of the bag as they say.

[Skwid]

42. 1,3 and 5...not necessarily in that order.

editing, I probably shouldn't even get into it, I'm an American Jew who despises the Israel government.

So sue me.

[The Straight Story]

44. As an American I don't care, that is their business and should stay their business

If someone was threatening me I would defend myself, that is their right.

It is not my issue and people here should not be paying for/dying for them - but if we decide it is our issue then we should be in a lot more wars right now saving people facing real threats right now. If we are going to say the people of country being attacked and possibly killed is our business then we should be willing to go to war for all of the other ones out there right now needing help.

[underpants]

47. Nothing. They don't have a bomb.

or you could milk more money out of American taxpayers to pay for you military.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

51. Realize that Ahmedinajab is a figure head and doesn't actually run the country

Realize that Iran has reason to feel threatened, with U.S. troops surrounding it on all sides.

[Behind the Aegis]

52. #4 is almost as stupid as many of the comments here.

The only difference is option #4 is actually a bit funny, much more so than the suggestion of "Jews out of Israel" is.

[Amonester]

53. 7. Be honest, and 'gently' tell the "rulers" of the peaceful Iranian people...

they actually do have between 200 and 300 nukes, and that if the rulers do lie about not making them, and try to 'use' one against Israel, they will be wiped out.

Although, being honest is not nothing, nothing else needs to be done, IMHO.

[ronnie624]

55. The course of action is obvious.

- Stop the campaign of coercion and violence against Iran.

- Recognize Iran's sovereign right, as a signatory to the NPT, to develop and utilize the technology for nuclear energy.

- Initiate normalized diplomatic relations with Iran.

Its really that simple. Iran is not morally obligated to facilitate U.S. hegemony in the Middle East.

[quinnox]

56. gosh, so my choices are to do nothing or attack Iran

Hmm, I wonder if there are any other options? Wait a sec, I see tons of other options being offered in this thread, strange that none of them are presented in the OP.

How transparent can you get? War mongering propaganda sucks.

[Selatius]

57. 7. Give up nuclear weapons in exchange for a guarantee of a WMD-Free Middle East from the UN.

If Israel formally states that it does have nuclear weapons and is willing to give them up only in exchange for guarantees by the United Nations Security Council, including the Five Permanent Members, to ensure that nobody is going to be allowed to possess WMD in the entire Middle East, including vigorous IAEA inspections in all affected countries, then it would become an issue for the United Nations to take up.

[BeHereNow]

60. Have you seen the map of the American military bases surrounding Iran?

Israel doesn't need to do a thing.
BHN

[PCIntern]

61. I'm gonna quote Howard Stern on this one:

If the Jews had been given the planet Mars, hey'd have had it up and running full tilt in less than 50 years, and everyone from here would be showing up and telling them that "It's ours and we want it back now!"

I believe that what we may distill from many of the answers as posited by the repliers to the OP is that the Jews should leave the land to the whomever-wants-it-the-most, who will kill each other to take it over, and then watch the cities and the farms deteriorate into the vast wasteland from which they came since 1948. Send all these displaced Jews to...oh I don't know...would the South Pole be OK... no, perhaps the North Pole would be better since there's no continent underneath and you never know with all the climate change what that might bring.

This whole matter of kicking Jews out of their own country is just so outrageous while the rest of the world exists on colonized land which displaced whole civilizations mercilessly.

Really...why don't you give your land that your home or condo is built upon back to the Native Americans who used to occupy it first...then we'll talk.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

62. None of the above: press for international sanctions and try to repeat Stuxnet.

I think that there is a real risk of Iran developing nuclear weapons, or getting to a point where it easily can.

I think this would be a very bad thing indeed for pretty much everyone in the middle East, including those Iranians who don't like living under an ultra-repressive hardline theocratic dictatorship.

I don't think it would be as bad as a shooting war between Israel and Iran.

Were I in charge of Israel, the US, or any other country with relevant influence, I'd be looking at other ways of making it less likely.

International sanctions are one possibility, although I don't have much faith in them.

The most striking success in delaying it so far seems to have been the Stuxnet computer worm; more cyberwarfare might be worth trying.

[Spazito]

66. I would suggest that Israel's leaders go back to Kindergarten and re-learn this...

These are the things I learned:

Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.

by Robert Fulghum

http://www.peace.ca/kindergarten.htm

[aquart]

67. Ahmadinejad has a generation in Evin.

He would LOVE an Israeli attack to unite his people behind him.

Therefore: DO NOTHING.

[BrentWil]

71. Ahmadinejad is not an important leader in Iran... what he would like doesn't matter NT

[raouldukelives]

69. I would be very careful.

We all know what happened when Saddam was given the green light by the USA to attack Kuwait. Israel is just asking for an invading force of the US Military along with mass bombing campaigns raining over them if they attack Iran. At least, I assume the USA would keep tradition in these matters.

[BrentWil]

70. 3 and 4 until 6 is absolutely needed.

I imagine that is what they are currently doing.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

76. Just what they're doing. Sucker Big Brother to back me when I start a war.

Hopefully, Obama is more like Eisenhower in '56 and won't be suckered.

But, I doubt it.