Cohen: We look at Iran and see ourselves

Ploughshares Fund grantee Avner Cohen writes in Haaretz that "if Israel takes military action against Iran, it will be one of the biggest decisions in the history of the state. The risks involved will make it unprecedented."  Yet, he observes, instead of open public discussion about the risks of such a move, the Israeli press "makes demagogic use of statements that intensify the message of the politics of fear. These include expressions such as 'Iran is galloping toward a bomb' and a 'second Holocaust' that Israel must prevent. Such discourse creates a feeling that if Iran is not attacked, and soon, we have no choice but to accept a nuclear Iran."