Saudis Want Nuclear Weapons To Counter Iran -- Not To Counter Israel

That is the point that Michael Totten makes when he notes that The Saudis Will Want the Bomb, Too:

It’s no secret that Saudi Arabia will want nuclear weapons if Iran gets them. Riyadh has been saying so for years and said it again a couple of days ago.

While there are obvious dangers to the stability of the region if the Saudis decide to obtain nuclear weapons as well, Totten here notes:

There’s another interesting angle here, though, that hardly anyone seems to notice. Israel is supposedly the mortal enemy of the Arabs. Right? So how come no Arab state bothered getting nuclear weapons after Israel acquired the bomb? Either the Arab war against Israel is less serious than the conventional wisdom would have it, the Arab-Persian conflict is more serious than the conventional wisdom would have it, or both. [emphasis added]

My vote is both.

UPDATE: I came across this apparent quote of Rabbi Meir Kahana that seems appropo:

“I understand the Arabs, and the Arabs understand me, but nobody understands the Jews.”

Technorati Tag: Israel and Saudi Arabia and Middle East.