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Israel's Final Warning on Iran

(Gatestone Institute) Yaakov Lappin - The coming weeks probably represent the last opportunity for Iran and the international community to reach an enforceable deal that will dismantle Tehran's nuclear weapons program, before Israel concludes that time has run out, and that Iran has gotten too close to creating its first atomic bombs. Despite Iranian President Rouhani's charm offensive, so far not a single uranium-enriching centrifuge has stopped spinning. Iran has already amassed enough low-enriched uranium for the production of seven to nine atomic bombs. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu warned at the UN that Israel would act alone against Iran if it needed to, reintroducing a credible military threat. This notice is important as deterrence against Iran has waned significantly since August, when President Obama climbed down from his commitment to carry out a military strike on Iran's ally, the Syrian regime, over its use of chemical weapons to massacre civilians. A diminished threat of military force leaves diplomatic efforts with Iran almost no chance of success. The second purpose of Netanyahu's speech was to put the international community on notice regarding the urgency of the situation. Should the international community continue to allow Iran to buy more time for its nuclear program, after Netanyahu's warning, it will not be able to respond with surprise when Israel attacks Iran's nuclear sites. Once Israeli intelligence agencies and senior military command levels conclude that the clock has struck one minute to midnight, no amount of pressure from allies will succeed in dissuading Israel from acting in self-preservation.
2013-10-11 00:00:00
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