Israel Said to Prepare to Attack Iranian Nuclear Facilities
Israeli Air Force
Iran comes back into the spotlight after a few months, when the world was more preoccupied with the Arab Spring and the economic crisis, as the United States proposes tougher sanctions against Iran and Israeli people responded to a poll that they would support a strike against Iranian nuclear facilities.
The poll conducted by Haaretz-Dialogue followed the announcement of the government that it had perfected a missile capable of carrying nuclear payload to Iran. 41 percent of the Jewish population is in favor of attacking Iran, while more than 39 percent oppose it and 20 percent said they had no opinion on the matter.
80 percent of the Jewish people believe that a war with Iran would trigger a war with Hamas and Hezbollah, while 20 percent believe that the possibility is remote. 54% of the Arab Israelis said that their country should not attack Iran, while 21% support such a move.
37% of the Russian Israelis support the attack, while 10% are undecided; 50% of the ultra-Orthodox, 43% of the Orthodox 45% of the observant Jews support the attack.
Asked if they trusted Netanyahu and defense minister Ehud Barak to pull it off, 52% said they did, 37 percent that they did not, and 11 percent that they had no opinion on the matter.
The consultation of the public opinion is part of a larger campaign initiated by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and defense minister Barak to hit Iranian targets that are considered by the Israeli military as places where the nuclear weapons may be built.
While Netanyahu and Barak are in favor of attacking the Iranians within the next few weeks, others ministers of the cabinet advise caution. Iran has made threats that every attack on their territory would result in retaliation against the United States.
It is widely conceived that an attack of the Israeli air forces must be supported by the American army, if there is a hope for it to succeed. The Obama administration is trying to pull out of two conflicts that have practically ruined the nation over the last decade.
Besides, Washington is fighting the devastating economic crisis, and its preoccupation toward engaging in a new war is minimal, though some people in the Pentagon admitted that the temperature raised over this matter.
Obama administration believes in solving this conflict by means of diplomacy and economic sanctions, whereas Israel favors series of pre-emptive strikes to make sure Iran will not build any nuclear bomb.
How Can Israel Attack Iran?
Analysts believe that America is not ready for a war with Iran, but that if Israel decides to go on with it, it will not be able to sit and watch and will have to get involved.
There are American general who believe that it is time “to put our hand around their throat” and the Pentagon has plans for this war which range from limited action to all-out conflict.
However, even the most inclined toward war in America stopped short of advocating it directly, and the president dismissed it altogether. The administration would have a very hard problem to explain the public another armed conflict and the raise of the oil prices as consequences of this war would be devastating for the campaign for presidential elections Obama is to embark on in a few months.
The debate in Israel was sparked by columnist Nahum Barnea, who wrote in the press that a strike is being prepared that would change the fate of the entire Middle East and would clear the position of the Jewish state in the region for generations to come.
Israel News reports that on Thursday Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered an investigation into who leaked the information about the attack to the press. The sources for the news agency said that former Mossad chief Meir Dagan and former Shin Beth head Yuval Diskin are the ones that told the press about it.
The Iranian foreign minister spoke on the theme in Turkey, where he gave an interview to Turkish Hurriyet Daily News. The minister said that his country was united and prepared for Israeli attacks.
He added that his country has been under the threat of such attack for years and that it was prepared. A military leader in the Islamic republic warned that Israel would be punished in a very surprising way in case it decided to go on with the attack idea.
Israeli military analysis website DEBKAfile says that the Americans are preparing along with the Israelis and the NATO countries the stage for an attack, but that they are now at the moment when they want to dissuade Iran from continuing their nuclear activities.
Debka links four events that happened all on Wednesday in order to make a case that the operation was under way: the successful launch of the Israeli intercontinental ballistic missile; the IDF release of photos showing the Israeli soldiers training with the Italian Air Force at a NATO base; the anti-missile exercise ordered in Israeli by the IDF; and the secret visit of defense minister Barak to London in order to gain the support and the implication of the UK military in the action.
DEBKAfile says that according to its military sources the plan is for Israel not to get engage in conflict, if the US, the UK and the other NATO countries attack Iran. In that case IDF and IAF would defend their country against a possible attack from Iran or its allies, Syria and Hezbollah.
