Weekly Commentary: Former COS Eizenkot don't panic if Iran gets nukes - how did this influence planning?

Weekly Commentary: Former COS Eizenkot don’t panic if Iran gets nukes – how
did this influence planning?
Dr. Aaron Lerner 26 January 2021

Ben Caspit: And if Iran get the nuke?

Gadi Eizenkot, 21st Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces
(February 16, 2015 – January 15, 2019): North Korea has nuclear capability,
and South Korea lives quietly and does not talk about an existential threat.
One should not panic under any circumstances. The United States is covered
by a bank of Russian and Chinese nuclear missiles that can land there in no
time, and the Americans do not seem bothered…..By the way, they are very
sensitive to human life, as a result of the trauma of that (AL: Iran-Iraq)
war, which greatly affected Khamenei who was then president.
Maariv January 28, 2022

So here we have a man who held key posts in the IDF, including Military
Secretary for PM/DM Ehud Barak, head of Israeli Operations Directorate,
Deputy Chief of General Staff and Chief of Staff, not overly concerned about
the consequences of Iran having nukes.

Here is a very different take on what Iran would do with nukes. One which
does not buy into Eizenkot’s view that Iran is “very sensitive to human
life” :

“mutual assured destruction, the deterrent that worked so well during the
Cold War, would have no meaning. At the end of time, there will be general
destruction anyway. What will matter will be the final destination of the
dead — hell for the infidels, and heaven for the believers. For people with
this mindset, MAD is not a constraint; it is an inducement.”
Bernard Lewis – The Wall Street Journal Aug. 8, 2006

And what if Lewis is right?

Eizenkot is, unfortunately, not an exception but rather reflects the mindset
which has pervaded Israel’s security establishment for decades.

Its an approach which makes it easy to deal with problems.

And not just Iranian nukes.

These guys were confident that we could leave the Golan if we had the right
gizmos in place.

And we could withdraw back to the Green Line if we had the right piece of
paper signed on the White House lawn with the PLO.

There is a reason why generals are not longer the vote getters they once
were in Israel.
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