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Israel, Unlike Iran, Poses No Threat to its Neighbors
by Ron Prosor
 Israel cannot be expected to push for arms control and disarmament while other states and non-state actors in the region remain hostile and threaten our security. Just as in other nuclear-free zones in the world, the process of peace and good relations has to precede the final goal, and not the other way around. Linking the Iran issue to Israel leads us down a blind alley. Iran did not start its nuclear program because of Israel - indeed the nuclear reactor in Bushehr was first developed before the Islamic revolution, when Iran and Israel were allies. I have closely followed the Iranian issue for 10 years, and I believe it is one of the biggest challenges facing the world today; it is crucial that like-minded states cooperate on addressing it. Iran is in effect a ticking bomb. The writer is Israel's ambassador to the United Kingdom. (Guardian-UK)
A Threat Equal to Terrorism
by Shimon Peres
 Alternatives must be found. In Israel, for example, we do not have long distances to reach by car, and therefore we may become the first country to change its fleet of cars, from those running on gasoline to those running on electricity. It has already begun. Israel can also pioneer research and development of alternative energy, especially solar power. We can find new methods of conserving and producing pure water and clean air. Indeed, every country has a part to play in the effort to reduce global warming. If we fail, the consequences will be far greater than bad weather or flooding. We risk conflicts across the globe that would overturn our very peace and security. (Salt Lake Tribune)
Hopes for Peace
by Mortimer Zuckerman
 Anybody who has visited the West Bank knows how much Fatah is dedicated to peace with Israel. The Fatah-controlled press and TV and the mosques reverberate with continuous incitement to violence and hate. Suicide bombers are depicted as heroes. In recent polls, almost half the Palestinian population would not accept Israel, even if there was a settlement. And Fatah still maintains its own terrorist wing, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Nobody wants Annapolis to fail. But it was prematurely arranged, and the sequence is wrong. The Palestinians should have had to build up a civil administration and an effective and reliable security force first. (U.S. News)
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Israel Fights World's Oil Addiction by Going Green
by Reda Mansour
Simple methods can also be used to conserve energy. In the 1970s the oil producing Arab states cut off Israel's resources, hoping to force the country into submission. Israelis fought back by cutting back. Israel reduced its use of gasoline by seven percent, assigning each citizen a day of the week during which they could not drive. People carpooled, used public transportation, or walked to get by and took one-seventh of all cars off the road. The 21st century has begun with oil as a major barrier to global freedom. As democratic and open societies, we must rebuke the inflated influence of corrupt oil-rich countries. To stay faithful to our values of liberty and advancement, we must not shy away from this challenge: taking humanity to the next level of prosperity, security and peace. The writer is the Israeli consul general for the U.S. Southeast. (Israel21c)
Middle East Peace Through Anxiety
by Michael B. Oren
 Annapolis must be deemed a triumph - not of peacemaking, paradoxically, but of girding the region for conflict with a radical and relentlessly aggressive Iran. The Iranians reacted ferociously to Annapolis and Ahmadinejad pronounced it a "failure." But such rage merely betrays the anxiety induced by Annapolis in Tehran. For the first time a coalition of Western and modern Arab leaders has coalesced and declared its commitment to resist "extremism" in the Middle East - a well-known euphemism for Iran. (New York Times)
Lighting Up Enemies' Homes
by Hillel Halkin
 Petitioners in most countries cannot go directly to a supreme court without first passing through lower courts; in Israel this is not only possible, it is actively encouraged by the High Court itself. And secondly, in what other country would a supreme court listen to an appeal on behalf of an enemy country with which its own country is at war? This is an argument unprecedented in the history of warfare. Imagine that the American government had sold wheat to Germany during World War II. And then imagine that, after several years of doing so, it decided to reduce such shipments and human rights groups argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that this deprived the German people of their daily bread. And finally, imagine that the justices in Washington not only agreed to hear the case but instructed the government - similarly to what the High Court did this week in Jerusalem - to provide it with information about just how many Germans would go hungry because of its action and how their caloric intake would be affected. (New York Sun)
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