Iran is playing a dangerous game with Israel

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has made a career out of his fiery rhetoric demanding Israel be destroyed and takes great delight in denying the Holocaust occurred. That's one historical parallel with Nasser's Egypt.

Iran arms, trains and funds organisations that launch cross border attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians. In 1964, Egypt oversaw the creation of the PLO. In 1982, Iran oversaw the creation of Hezbollah. Today, Iran is also the principal sponsor of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which have fired thousands of rockets into Israeli towns.

Iran is developing a nuclear program, and keeping key nuclear facilities from the International Atomic Energy Agency. Schematics showing how to create a nuclear warhead have been found in Iranian possession. Much of the world, including Israel, believes Iran is attempting to develop nuclear weapons.

Iran has developed and is continually testing missiles capable of both carrying a nuclear warhead and reaching Israel. Like Egypt in 1967, it is readying and deploying the tools needed to act on its threats.

Finally, like 1967, the international community today talks and talks, but takes no concrete action to prevent the coming violence. In 1967 that meant keeping peacekeepers on the ground. Today it means imposing meaningful sanctions. We all recently witnessed the hundreds of thousands of Iranians that took to the streets over fake election results. Iranians aren't happy. Imagine their reaction if meaningful sanctions were imposed with a single condition - end your illegal nuclear activities. The regime's choice would be losing its nuclear program or losing its grip on power. Either result is good.

Only Israeli concerns have been dealt with here. But Arab countries are equally terrified of Iranian intentions. Iran is Shiite and Persian (that is, non-Arab). The Arab countries are mostly Sunni, and are frantically lobbying the US to stop Iran. Some of these countries, notably Egypt and Saudi Arabia, have recently announced their own "peaceful" nuclear programs, in preparation for a possible future that includes a nuclear Iran. A nuclear arms race in an already instable region, and location of oil reserves still vital to the world's economy, would be disastrous for the entire world.

There are those who still insist that Iranian actions are not threatening; that it's all a big misunderstanding. And there are those who still insist that Nasser was misunderstood in 1967, and that his statement: "We shall not enter Palestine with its soil covered in sand; we shall enter it with its soil saturated in blood," meant no harm to Israelis.

People with their heads in the sand will be surprised and duly outraged if Israelis realise, once again, that no one will protect them but themselves, and decide to act.

I don't want another Middle Eastern war. Nor does Israel. But, as we saw in the 1930s and '60s, if the world doesn't prevent a genocidal regime from pursuing its stated intentions, war becomes unavoidable. It's time for the world to act and stop Iran.