Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
International
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Entertainment
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Most Israelis could live with a nuclear Iran: poll
Sun Jun 14, 2009 8:00am EDT
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Dan Williams
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Only one in five Israeli Jews believes a nuclear-armed Iran would try to destroy Israel and most see life continuing as normal should their arch-foe get the bomb, an opinion poll published on Sunday found.
The survey, commissioned by a Tel Aviv University think tank, appeared to challenge the argument of successive Israeli governments that Iran must be denied the means to make atomic weapons lest it threaten the existence of the Jewish state.
Asked how a nuclear-armed Iran would affect their lives, 80 percent of respondents said they expected no change. Eleven percent said they would consider emigrating and 9 percent said they would consider relocating inside Israel.
Twenty-one percent of Israelis believe Iran "would attack Israel with nuclear weapons with the objective of destroying it," the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), which commissioned the poll, said in a statement.
Iran says its uranium enrichment, which has bomb-making potential, is for energy only. But its leaders' anti-Israel rhetoric and support for Islamist guerrillas in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories have stirred fears of a regional war.
Some Israeli officials have said that the Islamic republic's ruling clerics may consider destroying Israel a goal worth the risk even of a devastating counter-strike: Israel is widely assumed to have the Middle East's only atomic arsenal.
A longer-term scenario sees Iran using the nuclear specter to undermine Israelis' desire to stay in their homeland.
DETERRENCE, RATIONALISM
"The Israeli leadership may be more informed," INSS research director Yehuda Ben Meir told Reuters, explaining that the discrepancy between public and government views about Iran.
But he added: "I think the Israeli public does not see this as an existential threat, and here there may be an exaggeration by some members of the leadership.
"Most Israelis appear willing to place their bet on Israel's deterrent capability and, I would add, on Iran's rational behavior."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was to give a major policy speech on Sunday citing Iran's reach among the reasons his government is reluctant to cede occupied land for a Palestinian state, as envisaged by U.S.-led peace mediators.
Like his predecessors, Netanyahu has hinted Israel could attack Iran pre-emptively should Western diplomacy fail to curb its uranium enrichment.
The INSS survey found 59 percent of Israeli Jews would support such strikes, while 41 percent would not back the military option.
The poll had 616 respondents and a margin of error of 3.5 percent, Ben Meir said. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
Yahoo!
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
Blast in Pakistan market kills 8; U.S. drone strikes
Afghanistan and Pakistan
Fighting the Taliban
A growing insurgency in Afghanistan is also spreading deep into Pakistan, making both countries crucial to U.S. war efforts in the region. Full Coverage
More International News
Mousavi seeks to overturn Iran election result
| Video
Netanyahu set to deliver peace policy speech
Blast in Pakistan market kills 8; U.S. drone strikes
| Video
Taliban raids increase, plan to disrupt Afghan poll: government
Airbus urges patience on crash, says A330 safe
More International News...
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
Ride Over? Six Flags Declares Bankruptcy
Mousavi seeks to overturn Iran election result | Video
WITNESS-Dreams turn to ashes on Tehran boulevard after vote
Ahmadinejad's victory greeted by Tehran protests | Video
Ancient mass grave found on Olympics site
Obama "excited" by Iran's robust election debate
Iran vote stuns voices for reform, opening to West
North Korea responds to U.N. with nuclear threats | Video
Los Angeles officials say can't afford Lakers parade
Is Google About To Introduce A Microblog Search Offering?
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Election clashes erupt in Iran
Protests erupt in Iranian capital
Knox trial continues in Italy
Ahmadinejad re-elected in Iran
Deadly bomb in Pakistan
Bikini protest in Ukraine
U.N. approves North Korea sanctions
Iraq: Sunni leader funeral
Lessons from the war in Iraq
North Korea's nuclear threats
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
The Great Debate
Fearing the supermen of Guantanamo
Bernd Debusmann
The language used in the debate over plans to close the detention center has taken on a surreal quality and convey the impression that Guantanamo detainees will wander the streets, shopping for sandals and guns. Commentary
Follow Bernd Debusmann on Twitter
We want to hear from you
Join the Reuters Consumer Insight Panel and help us get to know you better
Please take a moment to complete our survey
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Labs |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.