Of the many ideas presented by Benny Morris in his essay This Holocaust will be different; JPost Magazine Friday Jan 18 I was particularly intrigued by his expression of an idea I have been interested in for a long time. The foolishness of our attachment to an expensive, unnecessary and ultimately useless nuclear weapons program. Mr. Morris states:This dilemma (the conundrum of possessing nuclear weapons and their use) had … been accurately defined by a wise general: Israel’s nuclear armory is unusable. It can only be used too early or too late. There will never be a “right” time. Use it “too early,” meaning before Iran acquires similar weapons, and Israel will be cast in the role of international pariah, a target of universal Muslim assault, without a friend in the world; “too late” means after the Iranians have struck. What purpose would that serve? I would like to expand on the idea. Like may Israelis I watch the weather reports on TV. When I see how often the winds that bring our weather arrives in Israel after passing over Lebanon, Syria or Jordan I can not help but think how close we are to our potential targets and how insignificant national borders are to wind born radiation. This reality might also temper any enthusiasm our Arab Sunni neighbors have about Islamic Iran actually bombing Israel. It may be worth while for them to realize that our destruction by nuclear weapons will likely also affect their men, woman and children. Our water sources too are not ours alone. And if we were to actually utilize and explode the ultimate weapon against an enemy, what would be our position in the world in the aftermath of such a horrendous act. No government, certainly not that of Israel or of any other country (with the possible exception of Iran) can possibly seriously contemplate nuclear mass murder in our modern world,. The ecological consequences alone would bring total isolation to Israel. We have everything to gain and nothing to loose were we to relinquish our (non-existent) nuclear capacity. Were we to renounce our nuclear capability and weapons and invite international inspection we would be making a powerful statement that would echo forcefully in the international arena and contribute an influential voice to nuclear non-proliferation disarmament discussion. The potential ethical moral implications of such an act would be enormous. As an added bonus , we would free ourselves from the dilemmas associated with nuclear weapons possession. I would imagine that considerable financial savings could also be made. Economic savings that could be used far more effectively in the struggle for our physical security. Whether in expanding educational opportunities or in proceeding with the many long term military projects canceled due to lack of funds.
