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Israeli Defense Chief Warns on Iran and Lebanon

(Washington Post) - Janine Zacharia Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is due to arrive in Washington on Monday bearing two warnings for American policymakers: Sanctions won't thwart Iran's push for nuclear weapons, and Israel will strike directly at Lebanese government institutions if Hizbullah launches rockets at Israeli towns. In an interview, Barak said Israel and the U.S. share the same "diagnosis" that Iran is "determined to reach nuclear military capability," but "there are differences about what could be done about it, how it should be done, and what [is] the timeframe within which certain steps could be taken." "It's still time for sanctions," Barak said, but "probably, at a certain point, we should realize that sanctions cannot work." Barak warned that the next time violence breaks out in Lebanon, Israel would strike directly at the Lebanese government, which he said allowed Hizbullah to rearm and build an arsenal of 40,000 missiles and rockets. If Hizbullah fires a rocket into Tel Aviv, "we will not run after each Hizbullah terrorist or launcher....We will see it as legitimate to hit any target that belongs to the Lebanese state, not just to Hizbullah."
2010-07-26 08:49:08
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