- Dr. Max Singer
- Paper No. 202
If Israel strikes Iranian nuclear weapons facilities, the US should signal to Iran that despite America’s strong objections, it would support Israel.
Iran
- Prof. Eytan Gilboa
- Paper No. 198
The United States and Iran are trading diplomatic fire, with neither side willing to budge. Iran will continue its drive to the bomb, leaving Obama with no other choice but to take military action.
The best course of action in halting the Iranian nuclear program is a combination of Western sanctions and military threats. Military force should be the last resort taken by the US, and probably not at all. Though a “Grand Bargain” between the US and Iran will not happen, it is imperative that both sides continue negotiating in the hopes that there will be a breakthrough.
- Dr. Ehud Eilam
- Paper No. 185
There is a prevalent view that in the event of an Israeli strike on Iran, Tehran’s proxies in Lebanon and Gaza – Hizballah and Hamas – would join in retaliation against Israel. A more likely scenario, however, is that those groups’ participation will be limited at best.
- Prof. Efraim Inbar
- Paper No. 183
The international community appears unlikely to take military action against the Iranian nuclear weapons program because of the “Ostrich Syndrome” – a reluctance to deal with difficult problems and a preference to ignore them.
- Prof. Eytan Gilboa
- Paper No. 181
Israel and the US must improve their lines of communication. The US also ought to consider equipping Israel with enhanced military resources that would allow Israel to confront Iran at a later date – giving the West more time to pressure the Iranian regime.
- Col. (res.) Dr. Shaul Shay
- Paper No. 175
Iran’s aggressive new naval strategy is clearly meant to intimidate the West from continuing its pressure on Tehran regarding the nuclear issue, to show that Iran is able to foment trouble in the region.
- Lt. Col. (res.) Dr. Dany Shoham
- Paper No. 174
It is practically impossible and very unlikely that Western intelligence could detect an unambiguous order from Iranian leadership to build a nuclear bomb.
- Dr. Can Kasapoğlu
- Paper No. 172
Syria and Iraq have become battlefields on influence between Turkey and Iran. In Syria, a proxy war is underway, with Iran supplying weapons to its Alawite client and Turkey actively arming the opposition. In Iraq, Turkey and Iran vie for political influence along Sunni-Shiite fault lines.
Israel must destroy Iranian nuclear facilities and simultaneously launch a comprehensive Middle East peace initiative, relying in part on the Arab-Islamic Peace Initiative of ten years ago. A violent Iranian reaction is to be expected, but its maximum costs to Israel, the US, and all of the Middle East are much smaller than those stemming from Iranian possession of nuclear weapons.