End nuclear ambiguity

Indeed, for almost 40 years the State has been digging for itself a booby-trapped pit filled with snakes and scorpions. Its leaders and thinkers trained us to think that if we only leave the occupied territories, we'll find the cure to the maladies afflicting the country, which has put its trust in an unreliable partner like Egypt.

If only we sit down and talk with terrorists, terror problems will be solved once and for all, and an olive branch vision will sweep the region, from Iran to Lebanon.

For the time being, Palestinian olive harvesters squeeze out expulsion orders against Jews at outposts meant to be clear of any Jews, lest they disturb the peace doves, Heaven forbid.

And what's next? After all, the entire "land for peace or for nothing" arsenal has already been wasted on the Palestinian question – what will they use to appease the new nuclear master? And if lofty diplomatic wisdom stands at the base of the foolish formula adopted by the current government, "land for terror," what will Israel use to pay the international community?

The situation Israel finds itself in would have been easier had it acted as America's ally, rather than a satellite state. Its status would have been boosted much more had it made Europe see the errors of its ways through its ongoing capitulation to Arab countries in general and to Islam in particular.

These Europeans are personally experiencing these days the power of spreading Islam and the nature of terror and its dispatchers, who are declaring every day Israel's destruction as a top objective, even if they privately realize this will not be happening soon.

What should Israel do? More than 50 years ago, the world accepted a new idiom: Mutually assured destructions, particularly between the two superpowers of the "Cold War" days. Each one of them had plenty to lose had a nuclear war been initiated. Since then, not even one victim died on the nuclear battleground.

'One bomb is enough'

However, the Middle Eastern environment is much more complex than the reality that prevailed between the United States and the Soviet Union. For example, the use of chemical weapons by Iraq against Iran or by Egypt against Yemen illustrates how substantial could a nuclear error in this region be.

We shall add the fact that in a large part of Arab states the decision-making process is wholly different than the one common in Western countries.

And Israel's size on the map is as small as a pencil tip. For those who for forgot, its land area (without Judea and Samaria) is 22,000 square kilometers (roughly 8,000 square miles) and most of its population is concentrated in a central region bordered by Hadera to the north and Gedera to the south. Israel cannot absorb even the smallest nuclear error.

The words spoken by Rafsanjani six years ago, "True, the Zionists can cause us heavy damage, but one bomb is enough to eliminate Israel," still resonate in Teheran and Jerusalem. Israel cannot remain without clear, tangible and declared nuclear capabilities.

We must immediately present counter-deterrence, which will erase the Arab nations' and Iran's delusions to eliminate the Jews. We must also clearly prove a "second strike" capability – make it clear in some way that even if a bomb is dropped on Israel, it would be able to responds and 15 major cities outside our "pencil tip" will evaporate to the land of Allah.

In addition to Iran and North Korea, Egypt's mere desire to develop independent nuclear capability shows that Israel's policy of ambiguousness did not succeed. We can add to that the policy of "low intensity warfare against terror," and there we have a sure path that would lead the Jewish nation to dark corners, God forbid.

Dr. Gabi Avital is a lecturer at the Air Force's flight academy and a member of Professors for a Strong Israel