Submitted by Michael HALPERN, Oct 3, 2007 10:13

Talking is fine but actions speak louder than words and facts on the ground must not be ignored. Iran submits to inspection by the IAEA - Israel refuses to do so. Iran has no nuclear weapons - Israel has an undeclared arsenal of between 200 and 300 WMD but for what purpose, nobody knows. They are obviously not merely for the legitimate security of its national interests, i.e the safety of its borders and its citizens, for the size and scope of its weapons arsenal could easily wipe out half the world.

There is now an imperative to question why the West has allowed this situation to develop whereby a tiny country with a population of less than 8m and which sits in the middle of one of the most geopolitically volatile areas of the world, poses such a potential threat. The international community should initiate urgent talks, preferably within the UN Security Council, to stabilize the Middle East by making it a completely nuclear free zone - and that would entail the complete dismantling of Israel's nuclear 'deterrent'. Iran would then have no excuse to develop a nuclear weapon capability - if indeed it has one. That is what the talking should be about - not Martin Buber.

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