Although Israel is an undeclared nuclear power and has a well-armed and well-trained citizen army, it remains a small state in a volatile region where Iran is a much larger power by area and population. Iran also has a powerful conventional military. Should that military’s strength be augmented qualitatively by the acquisition of nuclear weapons, the credibility of Israel’s nuclear deterrence would fall far short of the minimum levels required to sustain its security and, indeed, its very survival. Hence the attack on Iran.
Israel’s pre-emptive attack on Iran’s nuclear sites and military commanders reveals the planning and preparedness with which the Jewish state secures its survival against existential threats. And no threat is more existential than that from Iran, the Shi’ite state that openly desires the destruction of Israel.
The crux of the struggle lies in Israel’s psyche of survival, which is engaged in mortal combat with Iran’s psyche as a Persian great power. Israel’s fears of another Holocaust will determine the course of this conflict.
