An attack on Iran is not justified
By Cesar Chelala

Growing demand from several US political figures, government officials and commentators for an attack on Iran should be carefully assessed before embarking on such a dangerous adventure. Among the several arguments made by advocates of drastic action is that Iran represents an existential threat to the state of Israel. The evidence, however, does not support that assertion. A recent article published in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz states that Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni criticized the extent to which Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been playing to popular fears by exaggerating the Iranian threat in order to boost his own popularity. Livni, by contrast, has made clear in a series of closed discussions that Iran does not pose an existential threat to Israel.