Arabs have been wondering for years why it is that Israel is allowed to have nuclear weapons while the rest of the Middle East is not. It's a really good question. There's no doubt in my mind that Israel would be just as likely to drop the big one, if threatened, as say Iran. It has been argued that "rogue" countries like Iran would attack or allow terrorist to use nuclear weapons, but I just don't buy that. The threat from Iran comes from the very real existential threat from the west, namely the U.S. There's no doubt in my mind that if there was an existential threat to Israel, (and they think there is which is why they have the bomb) they would use similar tactics. And who's to say that Arabs don't see Israel as a rogue?

Well, Israel is getting increased pressure on the issue:

At the last moment, and to the surprise and displeasure of the Israeli delegation to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Article 13 was added to the resolution on Iran. It states that "... a solution to the Iranian issue would contribute to global nonproliferation efforts and to realizing the objective of a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction, including their means of delivery."

As I said, this has been proposed for years. But for the first time, the U.S. is significantly weakened, and China, and ally of Iran, is significantly strengthened to the point of it being a viable proposal. With superpower counterbalancing, the U.S. may no longer be able to squash such resolutions in the U.N., yet another consequence of Jr.s great adventure in Iraq.

Until now, such resolutions have only been accepted by the annual meeting of the IAEA's General Conference and not by its board of governors, due to firm opposition from the United States. This time, American opposition was weakened by support for the resolution from France, Germany and Britain.

It would appear that a fair solution would be a defense guarantee by China of Iran's security combined with a similar guarantee by the U.S. of Israel. But we'll play hell getting Israel to accept such an agreement. They won't even admit they have the bomb, much less agreeing to get rid of it. Thus, the hypocrisy will continue in the Middle East with violent tension until resolved.