Israelis shrug at Netanyahu's urgent warnings on Iran
Israelis shrug at Netanyahu's urgent warnings on Iran - Yahoo! News
Even as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presses the US for red lines on Irans nuclear development and Iran ramps up its rhetoric, Israelis dont seem to be expecting a war with Iran anytime soon and are not frantically preparing for one.
Yes, Iran is a dangerous regime, most say. But even as some get new gas masks and repair their bomb shelters, more than half say they think Mr. Netanyahu's statements about launching an Israeli strike on Iran are a bluff intended to pressure the US to do the job instead.
And even if Netanyahu were serious about going it alone, Israelis express a high degree of confidence in Israels ability to defend itself.
We have been following the Iran issue for quite a long time and [Israelis] actually seem to be pretty relaxed about it and I suppose that, following their answers, this is because they dont really think its going to happen, says public opinion expert Tamar Hermann, who co-edits a monthly poll known as the Peace Index. They see it as a chess game by which Netanyahu is trying to achieve certain advantages in the international arena.
There are other theories about why Israelis seem relatively calm about the Iran threat: Theyve long since accepted that they live in a dangerous neighborhood; they have confidence in the states ability to defend itself and protect its civilians; they dont think Iran will strike anyway; and, for the more religious, they are looking to the same God that delivered their people from enemies who sought their destruction in the past, from Goliath to Haman.
First of all, I trust God. Secondly, we have very clever people, very good intelligence, and a strong military, says Moshe Guy, a Tel Aviv resident visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalems Old City. Im not afraid Im much more afraid about the conflict between Jews in Israel between religious and non-religious. I see that Judaism is moving toward [being] fanatic, and fanatic is very bad.
Indeed, other concerns seem to be more top of mind for Israelis, including the high cost of living, rising social tensions, and even a possible earthquake.
