That was the proposition put to a debate in New York last night at an event hosted by Intelligence Squared. The debates are Oxford style and feature a pre-debate and post-debate poll of the audience.
Judging from those numbers, the argument that Israel can NOT live with a nuclear Iran was the more persuasive one. Thirty-five percent of the audience opposed the motion prior to the debate, a figure which rose to 55 percent by the time it was done. Interestingly, the percentage who supported the motion also went up, from 25 to 37 percent. Total undecideds, 40 percent of the audience before the debate, had fallen to 8 percent by the end.
Arguing against the motion was Jeffrey Goldberg, who in the clip below makes the claim that Israel cannot survive more than three or four years once Iran goes nuclear.
Meanwhile, Reuven Pedatzur, a military affairs analyst for Haaretz, says Iran is just blowing smoke and has never truly threatened the Jewish state with nuclear annhiliation.
The full debate is available to watch here.
