ISRAEL AND IRAN MAY HAVE AN INTEREST IN EXISTING...:

The isolation of Israel could have disastrous consequences for us all: The more Israelis feel they can no longer rely on Washington to protect them, the more likely they are to launch unilateral military action to destroy Iran's nuclear capability (Con Coughlin, 8.28/09, Daily Telegraph)

n the course of Israel's 61-year history, there have been a host of occasions when the country has found itself in a tight fix. There was the Six-Day War of 1967, when the Jewish state was surrounded by hostile neighbours hell-bent on its destruction; the surprise attack by Syria that triggered the Yom Kippur War of 1973, which directly threatened the Israeli heartland; and the condemnation that followed the massacre of thousands of Palestinian civilians in Beirut's Sabra and Chatilla refugee camps at the height of the Lebanese civil war in 1982, for which the Israeli military bore a heavy responsibility.

Recent history has been scarcely less traumatic. During the Gulf War, Israelis were subjected to their own terrifying ordeal when they were bombarded by Saddam Hussein's Scud missiles. Israel's subsequent military operations in Lebanon and Gaza were not only problematic, but did much to alienate international opinion.

But throughout their trials and tribulations, Israelis have been able to take comfort from the fact that no matter how great the threat, they could always rely on the support of their closest ally, the United States.

And yet today, when Israel arguably faces a threat to its very existence from Iran's nuclear ambitions, the country suddenly finds itself more isolated than ever before, shunned by its erstwhile defender and protector.

...but looked at only through the lens of Realist foreign policy, what's the downside of them destroying each other?

Posted by Orrin Judd at August 28, 2009 7:49 AM