Israel Matzav: Haaretz: Netanyahu trying to persuade cabinet to authorize Iran strike

Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Haaretz: Netanyahu trying to persuade cabinet to authorize Iran strike

In an earlier post, I noted hints from Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Interior Minister Eli Yishai that a strike against Iran might be imminent. But Haaretz comes right out and says it: Prime Minister Netanyahu is trying to get the cabinet to approve an Israeli strike on Iran (Hat Tip: Mememorandum).

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are trying to muster a majority in the cabinet in favor of military action against Iran, a senior Israeli official has said. According to the official, there is a "small advantage" in the cabinet for the opponents of such an attack.

Netanyahu and Barak recently persuaded Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who previously objected to attacking Iran, to support such a move.

...

Senior ministers and diplomats said the International Atomic Energy Agency's report, due to be released on November 8, will have a decisive effect on the decisions Israel makes.

The commotion regarding Iran was sparked by journalist Nahum Barnea's column in Yedioth Ahronoth last Friday. Barnea's concerned tone and his editors' decision to run the column under the main headline ("Atomic Pressure" ) repositioned the debate on Iran from closed rooms to the media's front pages.

Reporters could suddenly ask the prime minister and defense minister whether they intend to attack Iran in the near future and the political scene went haywire.

Western intelligence officials agree that Iran is forging ahead with its nuclear program. Intelligence services now say it will take Iran two or three years to get the bomb once it decides to (it hasn't made the decision yet ).

According to Western experts' analyses, an attack on Iran in winter is almost impossible, because the thick clouds would obstruct the Israel Air Force's performance.

Some cabinet members are complaining that public discussion of the possibility of a strike against Iran are reckless.

Minister-without-Portfolio Benny Begin slammed the Israeli media's conduct surrounding talk of a possible IDF strike on Iran, in an interview with Army Radio Wednesday morning. "There has never been a breakdown of responsibility and a campaign of recklessness like there is today," Begin said.

...

The media attention, Begin said, "pales in comparison to the acts of Anat Kamm, for which she was sentenced to four and a half years in prison," echoing sentiments expressed by Intelligence and Atomic Energy Minister Dan Meridor Wednesday in a Ma'ariv op-ed.

Seemingly referring to former Mossad chief Meir Dagan's push in recent months to discredit the necessity of a military strike on Iran, Begin said that public servants "swore to guard state secrets forever, also after they leave their positions."

Making such discussions public, he added, "can present real damage to the government's abilities to make decisions."

But former National Security Council chief Giora Eiland regards such discussions as 'natural.'

"It's hard to take a topic that the prime minister declares to be the most important to the state of Israel and then prevent public debate about it," Eiland told Army Radio.

"It is only natural that the media took an interest in it," he added.

YNet reports that Begin had much harsher words for Dagan than the previously linked article reported:

Begin hinted to former Mossad Chief Meir Dagan's comments on a possible strike in Iran, saying that they constituted "a dangerous breach of trust, verging on megalomania. It's just despicable."

Civil servants, he added, "Are obligated to protect state secret they were privy to regardless of time. These kind of acts are very severe."

Clearly, something is going on. But if the weather is really an issue, the hit will have be soon or it will have to wait for the spring. And how do you maintain an element of surprise with all this discussion going on?

What could go wrong?

Labels: Avigdor Lieberman, Benny Begin, Binyamin Netanyahu, Eli Yishai, Giora Eiland, Iranian nuclear threat, Israeli strike on Iran, Meir Dagan