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The Philaldelphia Inquirer Israelis, and Iran, await test's falloutby Frida Ghitis TEL AVIV - You don't have to understand Hebrew to read the worried faces of Israelis glancing at this week's newspapers. The picture under the bold headlines shows the familiar round face of North Korea's Kim Jong Il. Looking at him from a Tel Aviv sidewalk near the beach, Israeli readers show a familiar expression: one of profound worry. "Now Iran will feel it can do whatever it wants," said Nili Orvin, a local businesswoman. North Korea, on Asia's Pacific rim, lies thousands of miles from the Mediterranean Sea that laps gently upon Tel Aviv's shore. Still, Israelis know that the apparent detonation of a nuclear device on the other side of Asia can affect the future, even the survival, of their country. Like Iran, Israelis are watching closely to see what the international community will do after the calamitous failure of diplomatic efforts to stop Pyongyang's nuclear pursuits. That's because the response to North Korea will serve as a guide to what will happen to Iran if it follows the same course. Iran's nuclear program is of grave concern for Israel because the Iranian regime has called for Israel's destruction. Iran has armed and supported organizations dedicated to Israel's destruction. The danger of nuclear arms in the hands of the mysterious and despotic North Korean ruler is sending shivers through Asia and the West. And the shockwaves of Monday's blast have reached the Middle East. Now, everyone foresees a nuclear arms race in Asia. But the nuclear arms race that Iran could trigger in this region is even more frightening. If Iran sets off more proliferation, the new members of the nuclear club could include Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria, all cauldrons of ideological extremism tamped down only by harsh repression - and all of them within missile range of Tel Aviv. If grindingly poor North Korea can make a bomb, Israelis ask, what could possibly stop a country awash in petrocash like Iran? To make matters worse, North Korea has already sold weapons to Iran. For those in search of silver linings, there is one possible benefit from North Korea's test. "This explosion," said Eyal Chem, a Tel Aviv lawyer, "will accelerate efforts to stop Iran." After decades of peace and prosperity, says the 32-year-old, "Europeans have felt too safe." He understands, he says, that "you can fall asleep in those circumstances." But, he speculates, North Korea may just wake up Europe. A nuclear-armed Iran is much scarier than North Korea. The Communist Korean leader wants powerful weapons to help his crumbling regime survive. Iran's intentions are quite different. Iran, governed by revolutionary religious fanatics, wants to use its might to exert its influence and continue to spread its revolutionary ideology. A nuclear-armed Iran will pose a threat not only to Israel, but also to the Sunni-ruled Arab regimes that surround it, and beyond. And its political empowerment will fuel ideological extremism among European Muslims. As Chem puts it, "You don't have to be an Israeli to listen to [Iran's president Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad and know it's not good for the world if he has the bomb." The world, however, has been listening and talking to Iran for years and has failed to stop its nuclear program. As any of these countries obtain nuclear weapons, the likelihood grows that they will provide them to small terrorist groups. That is true for Iran with its ideological objectives, and for North Korea, with its desperate need for cash. If North Korea indeed detonated a nuclear device, the explosion underscored just how useless diplomacy has proved in stopping a determined country from acquiring nuclear weapons. "Any country can do what it wants," said Orvin. "They see the world is too weak to stop them." Then she frowned and shook her head slowly. "The world is getting so dangerous. It's going out of control," she said, summing up a feeling that pervades Israel. As Israelis scan international reaction to North Korea, they know Iran is doing the same. They know the world's response to North Korea's defiance will help chart the course of Iran's nuclear program. Given the dismal track record of today's international diplomacy, that thought offers little solace to Israelis. It should trouble the rest of the world as well.
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