Larry J said:

"Iran doesn't need enough warheads to destroy Israel, they just need enough to threaten places like Tel Aviv and the means to deliver them. Israel is addressing this possibility by maintaining not only an extremely capable air force but by fielding the Arrow anti-missile system."

The successful test of the Arrow ABM shooting down the Scud was definitely a good thing. I wonder how many simultaneous Scud launches does it take to saturate the Israel ABM system and if it can reject simple decoys?

The bit that I don't understand is the Iranians "threatening" to nuke Tel Aviv. The Iranian Mullahs are already funding Hezboallah and running a low level terrorist war against the Israelis. The Mullahs have made it very clear that they want to wipe out the state of Israel (no threat, just a simple stated intention). So the Iranians acquire ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads. Are they supposed to downgrade from their original stated intention and merely threathen to wipe out Israel? Joining the "nuclear club" is supposed to provide a nation with bargaining power. I don't see the Mullahs as being all that interested in bargaining with the Israelis.

IMHO, the only ray of sunshine in this bleak situation is the Israelis will have to deal with the Iranians and not us. I'm not thrilled at the prospect of us slaughtering millions of children, young families and grandparents. The Israelis seem destined to have that onerous obligation.

Gary