[BluffTHIS!]

Since the subject of this thread is off topic to another one where it is getting a lot of play, I thought the topic deserved its own thread. Although of course history is the background of the mid-east situation, nonetheless, the reality of the political situation today is what is important.

I would like to propose the following questions to be debated by the 2 parties:

1) Cyrus has stated that Israel has nothing to fear from its neighbors as it is militarily stronger. But how much risk of a certain level of harm or even total destruction not from the sum of its neighbors, but from its most militarily capable and hostile foe, should Israel have to endure before it is justified in launching a pre-emptive strike to reduce that threat? A related question is does any Arab state need nuclear weapons?

2) To what area of land is Israel entitled as a state? Some of the West Bank and the Golan, or none of it? Should Israel be entitled to keep more than the original boundaries of 1948 simply because they have been attacked in the past (the spoils of war)?

3) Should Israel be given more aid and support by the US according to the level of Islamic extremist violence against not just Israel but also throughout the entire world? And should the degree of democracy/totalitarianism of Arab governments also factor in this?

If Cyrus & MMMMMM would like to debate these questions, then they should of course feel entitled to add more points of discussion.