Israel and Iran do not have official diplomatic relations and neither country has
recognized the other since the Islamic Republic's creation in the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Relations between the two countries have deteriorated further since Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election in 2005.
The nuclear program of Iran with its potential to develop nuclear weapons, together with the anti-Israel rhetoric of the President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and his demand for "the regime occupying Jerusalem" to "vanish from the page of time", has led Israelis to fear an eventual attack from Iran.
Israel has repeatedly voiced concern over Iran's nuclear program, which Israel believes Iran intends to use to produce nuclear weapons. The Israeli drumbeat for a military strike against Iran's nuclear program grow louder and louder. Obama administration officials, as well as U.S. lawmakers and European diplomats, passionately made the argument this spring that tough sanctions on Iran were necessary to avoid war. But contrary to their predictions, the drumbeat for war -- particularly from Israel - has only increased since the U.N. Security Council adopted a new resolution against Tehran in June.
Even an Iran that doesn't have nuclear weapons but that can build them would damage Israel's ability to deter militant Palestinian and Lebanese organizations. It would damage the image of Israel as the sole nuclear-armed state in the region and undercut the myth of its invincibility. Gone would be the days when Israel's military supremacy would enable it to dictate the parameters of peace and pursue unilateral peace plans.
This could force Israel to accept territorial compromises with its neighbors in order to deprive Iran of points of hostility that it could use against the Jewish state. Israel simply would not be able to afford a nuclear rivalry with Iran and continued territorial disputes with the Arabs at the same time.
Tensions are rising and rising; latest development is the Stuxnet worm. An elite Israeli military unit responsible for cyberwarfare has been accused of creating a virus that has crippled Iran's computer systems and stopped work at its newest nuclear power station. What's next?
To keep a close eye on this delicate situation you can visit http://israeliran.net. This site will keep you up-to-date with the latest news headlines, video's and background articles.