(Ynet News) Ron Ben-Yishai - The fact that Israel is holding training sessions seen as practical preparations for striking Iran's nuclear sites is no secret. Israel will not tolerate nuclear arms in Iranian hands. No less importantly, the international community and the Iranians fully realize that Israel is seriously considering such a strike in order to curb or at least delay the Iranian race to the bomb, assuming there is no non-military option to secure this aim. However, this is contingent upon absolute certainty that Iran has already started to produce the bomb and that all other ways to prevent Tehran from doing so have been exhausted. In such a case, Israel would have no choice but to thwart the existential threat we face as a result of nuclear arms in Iranian hands, even at the price of the casualties and damage sustained by Israel as a result of Iran's response and that of its allies. However, this scenario is still relatively far off. U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta came to Israel a few weeks ago and said that decisions on Iran must be taken in coordination between Jerusalem and Washington. "Nobody would believe that you operated without coordinating it with the U.S., and hence, as we too would sustain damages, we demand at least an advance warning," said a senior American official who recently visited Israel. The lively public debate on the issue grants more credibility to the Israeli strike threat. It signals to Washington, Moscow and Beijing: either you stop the Iranian race to the bomb or we shall be forced to act, and then all of us shall pay a heavy price.
2011-11-04 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive