Israeli premier: Nuclear Iran unlike any other Mideast danger
Source: Agencies |
August 13, 2012, Monday
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THE threat from Iran dwarfs all other challenges the Jewish state faces, Israel's prime minister declared yesterday, as high-level hints of a possible Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear program mounted.
One indirect indication came yesterday, when Israel's military began sending mock text messages to cellphones warning of incoming missiles, part of a nationwide experiment that is to continue through Thursday and reach hundreds of thousands of cellphone users.
Last week, defense officials confirmed that Israel's top-tier missile defense system has been upgraded.
"All threats directed at the Israeli home front are dwarfed by another threat, different in its magnitude and substance, and so I have repeated and shall repeat: Iran must not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet yesterday.
Skeptics say Israel is rattling its sabers as part of a diplomatic campaign but would hesitate to actually attack Iran, because of the real possibility that it could trigger an all-out war targeting Israel from several directions at once.
Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful, designed to make energy and medical isotopes, but Israel, like much of the West, thinks it could be a cover to build bombs.
Netanyahu said earlier this month that Israel has not decided whether to attack.
Some senior officials have suggested in the past that Israel cannot wait beyond early fall to strike, as Iran moves key facilities into fortified underground bunkers out of the reach of Israeli bombs.
Over the weekend, a senior "decision-maker" widely identified as Defense Minister Ehud Barak was quoted by an Israeli newspaper as saying that "the sword hanging over our neck today is a lot sharper than the sword that hung over our neck" before the Jewish state went to war with three Arab nations in 1967.
Although Israeli leaders haven't explicitly threatened to attack, they have been saying for years that they would not tolerate a nuclear Iran, and "all options are on the table." The US has a similar policy.
The United States has said it would be prepared to use military force to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power. But with its superior firepower, it could wait longer than Israel could to strike at Iran's underground facilities, and experts have judged Washington has more than a year to act.
One indirect indication came yesterday, when Israel's military began sending mock text messages to cellphones warning of incoming missiles, part of a nationwide experiment that is to continue through Thursday and reach hundreds of thousands of cellphone users.
Last week, defense officials confirmed that Israel's top-tier missile defense system has been upgraded.
"All threats directed at the Israeli home front are dwarfed by another threat, different in its magnitude and substance, and so I have repeated and shall repeat: Iran must not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet yesterday.
Skeptics say Israel is rattling its sabers as part of a diplomatic campaign but would hesitate to actually attack Iran, because of the real possibility that it could trigger an all-out war targeting Israel from several directions at once.
Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful, designed to make energy and medical isotopes, but Israel, like much of the West, thinks it could be a cover to build bombs.
Netanyahu said earlier this month that Israel has not decided whether to attack.
Some senior officials have suggested in the past that Israel cannot wait beyond early fall to strike, as Iran moves key facilities into fortified underground bunkers out of the reach of Israeli bombs.
Over the weekend, a senior "decision-maker" widely identified as Defense Minister Ehud Barak was quoted by an Israeli newspaper as saying that "the sword hanging over our neck today is a lot sharper than the sword that hung over our neck" before the Jewish state went to war with three Arab nations in 1967.
Although Israeli leaders haven't explicitly threatened to attack, they have been saying for years that they would not tolerate a nuclear Iran, and "all options are on the table." The US has a similar policy.
The United States has said it would be prepared to use military force to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power. But with its superior firepower, it could wait longer than Israel could to strike at Iran's underground facilities, and experts have judged Washington has more than a year to act.
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