There are three immediate questions to answer about the war that Israel has started with Iran, all of which lead to the most important of all: Can this achieve Israel’s stated goal of ensuring, once and for all, that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon?
If it can, then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to launch Israeli jets against a much larger nation of close to 90 million people would, depending on the nature of the targets struck and level of civilian casualties, be justified on both strategic and moral grounds. The destruction of Israel is a declared policy of the regime in Tehran and one it’s been acting on for decades.
There’s no doubt, despite denials, that Iran’s uranium enrichment program is designed to produce weapons-grade fuel; it’s practically there, with a growing stockpile concentrated to 60%, a level far beyond any conceivable civilian use. So, even though Israel has a nuclear deterrent of its own, as a tiny "one-bomb” country it can’t take the risk of allowing such a hostile power to also have one.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.