State Department Fears Israel May Attack Iran Unilaterally
by Jason Ditz, November 01, 2011
Israel is often said to be a nation with an eye constantly on its next war. But with an invasion of the Gaza Strip apparently already in the offing, the nation seems to have its eyes on more than one future war, with an attack on Iran also being pushed.
Top Israeli officials familiar with the situation say that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has redoubled his efforts to convince the rest of his cabinet to back an attack on Iran, and that he has finally won over hawkish Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to his side.
Ministers insisted no decision has been made yet on the attack, but with Defense Minister Ehud Barak already on board, the effort to muster a majority of the cabinet seems to be going quite well. Other ministers also agree on the attack in theory but have expressed a preference that the Israeli government convince the US to attack instead.
The decision might come sooner than we expect too, as Western analysts say that winter cloud cover would make an Israeli attack extremely inconvenient for several months and might convince them to launch in the next few weeks in an effort to beat the weather.
The US is also said to be extremely concerned about a unilateral Israeli attack and is channeling that concern into pressing for more and more sanctions against Iran, with officials believing that new sanctions would convince Israel that the international community is sticking it to Iran sufficiently that a full on military attack can wait a few more months.
Two former Israeli intelligence officials, Meir Dagan and Yuval Diskin, are reportedly suspected of leaking to prevent attack
by John Glaser, November 03, 2011
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered an investigation into alleged leaks of plans to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, according to reports.
The main suspects for the leak are the former heads of Israel’s intelligence agencies the Mossad and the Shin Bet, Meir Dagan and Yuval Diskin respectively. Netanyahu purportedly suspects that the two former agents leaked the information in an attempt to thwart an effort by him and Defense Minister Ehud Barak to push for a unilateral, preemptive attack on Iran.
Top Israeli officials familiar with the situation say that Netanyahu is and has been redoubling his efforts to convince the rest of his cabinet to back an attack on Iran, and that he has finally won over hawkish Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to his side. On Wednesday, Israel test-fired a ballistics missile immediately after Netanyahu warned of a “direct and heavy threat” posed by Iran’s nuclear program.
If the reports about the Netanyahu administration’s suspicions are true and Dagan and Diskin did leak the information to prevent an attack, which had moved from the stage of discussion to implementation, it would certainly be consistent with previous statements from the two. Back in May, Netanyahu and Barak condemned Dagan for saying publicly that a strike on Iran would be “the stupidest thing I have ever heard.”
“It seems that only Netanyahu and Barak know, and maybe even they haven’t decided,” Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff, both respected Haaretz writers told The Guardian. “While many people say Netanyahu and Barak are conducting sophisticated psychological warfare and don’t intend to launch a military operation, top officials … are still afraid.”
I HATE WAR.
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