Who is leading whom here? If news reports are correct Israel is goading the USA into supporting an attack on Iran. It is also obvious that Israel is levering off the politics of the US presidential election. Needless to say this is all a dangerous game with huge implications beyond just Israel and Iran.
And then there is this from Mondoweiss:
"Two recent interviews apparently given by Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak provide evidence that the new wave of reports in the Israeli press about a possible Israeli attack on Iran is a means by which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Barak hope to leverage a U.S. shift toward Israel’s red lines on Iran’s nuclear programme.
An interview given by a “senior official in Jerusalem” to Ynet News Wednesday Israeli time makes the first explicit linkage between the unilateral Israeli option and the objective of securing the agreement of President Barack Obama to the Israeli position that Iran must not be allowed to have a nuclear weapons “capability”.
In the Ynet News interview, the unnamed official is reported as explicitly offering a deal to the Obama administration: if Obama were to “toughten its stance” with regard to the Iranian nuclear programme, Israel “may rule out a unilateral attack”.
Ynet News reporter Ron Ben Yishai writes that Obama “must repeat publicly (at the U.N. General Assembly, for instance), that the U.S. will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons and that Israel has a right to defend itself, independently.”
An interview given by a “senior official in Jerusalem” to Ynet News Wednesday Israeli time makes the first explicit linkage between the unilateral Israeli option and the objective of securing the agreement of President Barack Obama to the Israeli position that Iran must not be allowed to have a nuclear weapons “capability”.
In the Ynet News interview, the unnamed official is reported as explicitly offering a deal to the Obama administration: if Obama were to “toughten its stance” with regard to the Iranian nuclear programme, Israel “may rule out a unilateral attack”.
Ynet News reporter Ron Ben Yishai writes that Obama “must repeat publicly (at the U.N. General Assembly, for instance), that the U.S. will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons and that Israel has a right to defend itself, independently.”
And then there is this from Mondoweiss:
"After last week's fearfest over Iran fell flat, the danger duo of Netanyahu/Barak are up to their tricks again, revving up the pressure tactics for an Iran attack.
Didi Remez translates the latest bombshell from Israel via the Hebrew press. If Obama doesn't get on board by Yom Kippur there will be hell to pay during the last month of his campaign for re election. According to Maariv journalist Eli Bardenstein:
"Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak expect US President Barack Obama to say clearly that the United States will take military action to stop the Iranian nuclear program either at the UN General Assembly on September 25, which is the eve of Yom Kippur, or on some other public platform by that date."
Officials in the Prime Minister’s Bureau refused to respond [formally] to questions on this issue, but sources in Jerusalem said that officials in the Foreign Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Bureau have already begun to make preliminary efforts to coordinate this issue with the White House and with US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, who has very close ties to Obama.
The UN General Assembly meeting will begin on the eve of Yom Kippur. One of the first speakers will be President Obama. Despite the fact that that speech is still a month and a half away, officials in Jerusalem have already begun to take action. One high-ranking source in Jerusalem said that if Obama does make the statements that Israel expects of him to make, that will serve as a decisive contribution to Israel’s sense of confidence that the United States will indeed take military action to stop Iran, and it will also dispel fears that Israel might attack before the American presidential elections on November 6.
For Israel, time is pressing for a statement of that sort because of the tight timetable for an attack on Iran, which some people have assessed is likely to be carried out in the next two and a half months. That said, officials in the Prime Minister’s Bureau and the Defense Minister’s Bureau are aware of the fact that if Obama does decide to make a statement of that kind, he will make it only in closer proximity to the election, and not at present.
Israel has been pressing for an Iran attack for a few decades. We shouldn't be surprised the new deadline is November 6th. Is Obama going to cave to Netanyahu's scheduling?
Didi Remez translates the latest bombshell from Israel via the Hebrew press. If Obama doesn't get on board by Yom Kippur there will be hell to pay during the last month of his campaign for re election. According to Maariv journalist Eli Bardenstein:
"Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak expect US President Barack Obama to say clearly that the United States will take military action to stop the Iranian nuclear program either at the UN General Assembly on September 25, which is the eve of Yom Kippur, or on some other public platform by that date."
Officials in the Prime Minister’s Bureau refused to respond [formally] to questions on this issue, but sources in Jerusalem said that officials in the Foreign Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Bureau have already begun to make preliminary efforts to coordinate this issue with the White House and with US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, who has very close ties to Obama.
The UN General Assembly meeting will begin on the eve of Yom Kippur. One of the first speakers will be President Obama. Despite the fact that that speech is still a month and a half away, officials in Jerusalem have already begun to take action. One high-ranking source in Jerusalem said that if Obama does make the statements that Israel expects of him to make, that will serve as a decisive contribution to Israel’s sense of confidence that the United States will indeed take military action to stop Iran, and it will also dispel fears that Israel might attack before the American presidential elections on November 6.
For Israel, time is pressing for a statement of that sort because of the tight timetable for an attack on Iran, which some people have assessed is likely to be carried out in the next two and a half months. That said, officials in the Prime Minister’s Bureau and the Defense Minister’s Bureau are aware of the fact that if Obama does decide to make a statement of that kind, he will make it only in closer proximity to the election, and not at present.
Israel has been pressing for an Iran attack for a few decades. We shouldn't be surprised the new deadline is November 6th. Is Obama going to cave to Netanyahu's scheduling?
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