| Netanyahu, Barak ‘favour’ Iran strike |
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM Israel’s prime minister and defence minister would like to attack Iran’s nuclear sites before the US election in November but lack crucial support within their cabinet and military, an Israeli newspaper said on Friday.
The front-page report in the biggest-selling daily Yedioth Ahronoth came amid mounting speculation that war with Iran could be imminent even though it might rupture the ties between Israel and the US.
“Were it up to Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak, an Israeli military strike on the nuclear facilities in Iran would take place in the coming autumn months, before the November election in the United States,” Yedioth said in the article by its two senior commentators, which appeared to draw on discussions with the defence minister but included no direct quotes.
Spokesmen for Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defence Minister Barak declined to comment.
Yedioth said the top Israeli leaders had failed to win over other security cabinet ministers for a strike on Iran now, against a backdrop of objections by the armed forces given the big tactical and strategic hurdles such an operation would face. “The respect which in the past formed a halo around prime ministers and defence ministers and helped them muster a majority for military decisions, is gone, no more,” Yedioth said. “Either the people are different, or the reality is different.”
Separately, Netanyahu told UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that he would be making “a big mistake” if he attended an August 30-31 Non-Aligned Movement summit in Teheran.
“Mr Secretary General, you do not belong in Teheran,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office quoted the premier as telling Ban in a telephone conversation.
The Yedioth article said that some government advisers in Israel and the US believed a pre-November strike might “embarrass Obama and contribute to Romney’s chances of being elected.”
Yedioth said the aim of an initial Israeli attack on Iran could be to trigger an escalation that would draw in superior US forces – but described Barak as dismissive of this theory.
On Thursday, officials said the US still believes Iran is not on the verge of having a nuclear weapon and that Teheran has not made a decision to pursue one.
A poll by the Maariv daily found that 41 per cent of Israelis saw no chance of non-military pressure on Iran succeeding, versus 22 per cent who thought diplomacy could work.
Agencies
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