Regional Zero.

Ha'aretz's report that the governments of Israel and Iran have been conducting discussions on nuclear issues is encouraging enough, but this specific tidbit is astonishing (via Blake Hounshell):

During the meetings, [Israeli diplomat Meirav] Zafary-Odiz explained the Israeli policy of being willing, in principle, to discuss the Middle East as a nuclear-free zone. She also detailed Israel's unique strategic situation, saying regional security must be strengthened, security arrangements must be agreed upon and a peace agreement must be sealed before Israel would feel at liberty to discuss this topic.

Zafary-Odiz said Israel lived in a complex geopolitical reality, noting that in three decades, four countries in the region broke their commitment to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty - Iraq, Iran, Libya, and Syria. She said Israel takes a responsible approach to the nuclear issue as a whole and that the far horizon of its vision did include the possibility of a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East, even if the chances for this were slim.

Discussions of the Iranian nuclear program rarely note that it is hard to convince a nation that nuclear armament is not in its interests when it is in the same region as a rival with one hundred-odd nuclear weapons. When Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders muse publicly about bombing Iran, that only strengthens the case among Iranian leaders for developing a nuclear counterweight. It follows that Israeli disarmament would be immensely helpful in deterring future nuclear programs both in Iran and throughout the region. It would also bring Israel into compliance with international norms accepted by almost every other state, which is surely a nice perk.

Of course, Zafary-Odiz and the Netanyahu administration more generally may be bluffing, but even so the fact that this is on the table is encouraging.

--Dylan Matthews