Mr. Hagai Segal might want to consult some actual military leaders and do some light reading, such as Sun Tzu's "the Art of War" and the Bible and several other documents on warfare that have proven to be true over the last 2000 to 3000 years. No matter how it is spun by people like Mr. Segal, going to war with Iran will be devastating to Israel. First of all, Segal falls into the classic trap of vastly over-estimating Israel's capabilities and vastly underestimating Iran's capabilities. What happens if almost none of the planes sent to attack Iran return? What happens if Iron Dome is much less effective than the propaganda says? The reality is the IDF is NOT as good as the hype and can be defeated. The US thought it could conquer Iraq in a few days and eight years later it withdrew in humiliation. Right now the US is desperately trying to find a way to leave Afghanistan without looking like retreating cowards. War NEVER go as planned and Israelis need to carefully think about how many dead Israelis are worth attacking Iran.

Whether or not Israel should attack Iran is a different issue. Israel will survive an Iranian attack if she holds Judea and Samaria. If Israel surrenders Judea and Samaria, an Iranian attack will end Israel and the Jewish population. The only question is why Netanyahu and Barak are trying to surrender Judea and Samaria.

aside from past mistakes, israel is finally getting rid of dead wood. Olmert who has caused great harm to israeli deterrence fortunately is going to jail and virtually all except j street realize he is a misguided gutless coward and his views belong his his tuches and no furthur. Now livni finally gets repaid and punished for enabling olmert to continue harassing and humiliating israelis by his concessions and his saying israel is finished. Israelis don't want her in any role other than a junior staff lawyer and that is it. She engaged in incredible discussions of giving away israel's heartland without fully understanding that arabs are untrustworthy and sacrificing israel's security heart. She looks nice and all that but she is limited in her brain power and judgement, similiar to olmert. Israel still has deadwood to get rid of and the next elections will reduce mofaz to insignificance and retirebarak and get rid of peres. then israel can move forward. Thankfully livni has been defeated and now is deadwood.

Read the prophets. The world will come against Isreal and Jerusalem but will be defeated. This will not be due to German subs, American aid etc. In fact all these will be against Isreal. Isreal will prevail by the Lords protection. America is most likely the daughter of Babylon phrophecied by Jeremiah. It will be destroyed along with other nations and Isreal will be the ruling nation of Messiah.

The worst Anti - Semitism is not the one that spits in our faces, but the one that silk carpeting our way into Sodom and Ghomorrah.

I guess it comes down to what you consider an acceptable Israeli casualty list in Iran's counterattack.

The more Iran threatens with doomsday surprises and pound their chest with ferocious hatred and calls to genocide, we KNOW that they are afraid, very afraid. Their economy is in shambles, their army and weapons not maintained well, and apart of a few elite units, their soldiers think more about how their terrorized and hungry families at home are doing, instead of fighting for a delusional dictator with an entourage of religious arrogant, corrupt and crazed clerics. They lost millions of people and children in a fruitless 8 year war with Iraq and don't really want to lose more in a much shorter war, where Israel, faced with the specter of annihilation, won't hold back anything to defend itself. Yes, the Teheran thugs better think well about what they do because the first war sounds will be the signal of their downfall.

Seems to me there is a slew of armchair generals telling Israel what to do vis-a-vis Iran. Not only are these generals experts in military tactics but are also statisticians giving odds on success or failure. Two things are sure. 1) We the public know diddly-squat of what is truly going on. 2) The IDF will not attack unless a successful outcome is highly likely. This goes for the attack as well as its aftermath.

many negative, cowardly, anti-Torah citizens of Israel are powerless.

If push comes to shove, Israel will survive and Goliath (the huge bloc of Iranian-Arab-Turk warmonger bullies) will be felled by not one 'pebble' but a couple. And Goliath's head will be cut off with Goliath's own sword, NEVER again will this Goliath be able to boast and BULLY. History repeats itself. Except this time JEWISH Albert Einstein needs to be thanked for making the 'pebbles' possible for the future DEFENSE of his people ... well we know what all that means.

How about we try some other things and just leave this one for the chattering crowd! Are you meshugah? Mess with these guys and we will pay forever. Let them do what they do best--destroy each other and blame us. Respectfully, we Jews have bigger things to work on right now and for a long time to come than cleaning up the mess of irrational war.

It is not the question of whether Israel will survive or not, she will. The question is - at what cost, how many Jewish lives will be lost and that is priceless.

"our lives will be more comfortable the day after the attack", and how long will that last? Didn't the inventor of the spear also say that, like there isn't continuous evolution in weapons? As we speak work is being done to counter the anti-missile missile, birdbrain.

Many countries are helping Iran evade sanctions eg. India. Sanctions are just an eyewash by the Obama regime to prevent an Israeli attack which will make him to lose the elections. Its better Israel attacks immediately rather than listening to hot-air from Obama.

the wars human kind has waged throughout the times. Reality shows different. We'd be better off thinking Iran will develop nuclear weapons, Iran will use them, Iran has to be stopped, Iran will retaliate..... we'll survive that too.

Did the editor forget to add the rest of the article where the author explains WHY "There is also an excellent chance that the day after would be nowhere as grim as the horrific scenarios we’re hearing. "

no can do. it war now, or holocaust later. ask hiroshima and nagasaki. those iranians are far madder and less western than the US president in 1945. don't think they won't itch to use their weapons.

We know Israel has a second- strike capability. But this article provides no evidence for its major claim regarding the kinds of damage Israel might suffer from a combined missile attack from Hizbollah, Hamas, Syria and Iran. It is not enough to simply state opinions one must support them with evidence.

Its about time a journalist has finally taken this position. Ill even venture to say Israel has many surprises in store that will surprise Iran, and the rest of the world.

Any military operation on Iran would be highly complex, I agree. I also feel it could be highly affective. As to retaliation I would worry more about local terrorist attacks than a long range operation by Iran. Their military is really designed for close distance operations so trying to strike far beyond their boarders would be almost impossible, and certainly not sustainable.

...unless the US contributes, that is. Then Israel will continue to act all big and tough. If anyone thinks otherwise, then by all means tell me the 'red line' date by which Israel will take action. Something like 'before December.' I note no one on this talkboard (none of the countless Internet warriors who troll this board) has yet to give me a date. Probably because they know when this date passes, and Israel has done nothing, that I will be laughing at them. Which I will.

have fun crying in your soup...hahaha

Could it be that they haven't given you a date because they are as clueless as you are?

that is the conclusion to which you would lead one. surrender to a mortal enemy who utterly rejects any prospect of coexistence? Americans might have said that there is no point in fighting the british empire because it will always be able to counter whatever the American revolutionaries do, right? another thing: nasty condescension is not called for. the issue is momentous and there are serious points to be made on both sides.

Israel has powerful armed forces, but religious and ideological fervor have nothing to do in military and geo-strategic analyses. The author has no clue about the subject he is talking about. His wishful thinking us reminiscent of Arab military comentators in Egyptian newspapers during the sixties.