Israeli PM threatens to strike Iran

[Savonarola]

Happy days are here again:

Israeli PM threatens to strike Iran

Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel may have to act against Tehran unilaterally to curb it from achieving its nuclear goal.
Last Modified: 15 Jul 2013 00:14 



The prime minister said the new leader of Iran was not to be trusted[Reuters]


Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Iran is moving "closer and closer" to building a nuclear weapon and warned that his country may have to act against Tehran to curb it from achieving its goal before the United States does.

"They're edging up to the red line. They haven't crossed it yet," Netanyahu said on Sunday on CBS News's "Face the Nation."

"They're getting closer and closer to the bomb. And they have to be told in no uncertain terms that that will not be allowed to happen."

Netanyahu went on to say that Israel had a more narrow timetable than Washington, implying it may have to take unilateral action to halt Iran's controversial nuclear programme.

"Our clocks are ticking at a different pace. We're closer than the United States. We're more vulnerable. And therefore, we'll have to address this question of how to stop Iran, perhaps before the United States does," he said.

Netanyahu said Tehran has been building "faster centrifuges that would enable them to jump the line, so to speak, at a much faster rate -- that is, within a few weeks."

No change of policy

Netanyahu said Iran's nuclear policies were unlikely to change under its next president, moderate cleric and former nuclear negotiator Hassan Rowhani, who will assume power on August 3.

"He's criticising his predecessor (President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) for being a wolf in wolf's clothing. His strategy is be a wolf in sheep's clothing. Smile and build a bomb," Netanyahu said.

He urged the United States to make clear to Rowhani that it will not allow Iran to build a nuclear weapon, and that military force "is truly on the table."

"We've spoken many times, President Obama and I, about the need to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons," Netanyahu said.

"What is important is to convey to them -- especially after the election -- (is) that (the) policy will not change," he said.

"If sanctions don't work, they have to know that you'll be prepared to take military action -- that's the only thing that will get their attention," he added.

Iran for years has been at loggerheads with world powers over its nuclear drive, which Western nations believe is aimed at developing an atomic weapon capability.

Tehran insists its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful, but the sanctions imposed over the standoff have isolated it internationally.

Netanyahu has compared himself to Popeye for his willingness to defy the US on the subject of settlements.  I'm curious if he's willing to act alone against Iran, and if Iran take his threats seriously.

[mongers]

Election time looming ?

[DGuller]

  I guess Israel isn't going for a surprise strike.

[fhdz]

I guess Israel isn't going for a surprise strike.

Israel just Does Not Give a Fuck.

[Sheilbh]

Election time looming ?

Maybe domestic, but if so I think it's internal-internal politics. Likud's moving far more hardline lately. Increasingly Bibi represents the more centrist old guard.

He has to compete with the newly elected Likud Chair and deputy defence minister who's playing to the galleries, saying things like the government will block any two-state solution and they need prayers on top of Temple Mount immediately.

Edit: Incidentally Danon won 85% of the vote and Bibi didn't even run this time for fear of being humiliated.

[mongers]

Or maybe the old 'good cop - bad cop' game.

[Admiral Yi]

How many times is this now?

[Sheilbh]

How many times is this now?

As I say, my guess would be every time there's a bad bit of news domestically.

[Legbiter]

Let Iran collapse from within via sanctions.

[Siege]

In other news:

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/169908#.UeSbyFYo7U4

Repeat Performance: Hareidi Extremists Attack IDF Soldier


After a series of similar attacks, and less than a day after leading hareidi rabbi accused of incitement, extremists target soldiers again

In a story that is becoming worryingly familiar to many Israelis and Jews throughout the world, a religious soldier was attacked Sunday afternoon in the predominantly hareidi-religious Beit Yisrael neighborhood of Jerusalem.

The attackers, two members of the hareidi community, fled after a fight ensued and are the subject of a search by authorities. The soldier did not require medical attention.

This is only the latest in a string of incidents in which hareidi extremists have targeted IDF soldiers - particularly those who are visibly religious. The attacks are seen as a response to attempts by the Israeli government to apply the universal draft to hareidi men as well.

Currently, hareidim are exempt from serving in the army if they are engaged in full-time learning, whereas all other Israeli men over the age of 18 are required to enlist. This is viewed as unfair by many Israelis, particularly given that subsequent to avoiding national service, most hareidim tend not to seek employment, choosing instead to live on a mixture of communal handouts and state benefits.

Unlike their hareidi counterparts, religious Zionists (also known as dati'im le'umi'im or "National Religious") believe that intensive Torah study and a strict adherence to Jewish Law can and should be combined with military service and other forms of activities - such as employment - which hareidim disdain as "secular."

The proposed law will still allow for a limited number of exceptional students to remain in full-time study.

Incitement

This latest attack comes on the heals of a widely condemned address by a leading hareidi rabbi, in which he branded religious Zionist Jews as "not Jewish" and declared that they were in fact "Amalek" - a terminology used to describe enemies of the Jewish people who must be wiped out.

Religious Zionist leaders reacted with outrage and disbelief at the comments by Rabbi Shalom Cohen, a member of the Shas party's "Council of Torah Sages."

[Savonarola]

Iran fires back:

Iran's Rouhani dismisses Israeli threats

President-elect calls Israel a "miserable regional country" after Netanyahu brands him a "wolf in sheep's clothing".
Last Modified: 17 Jul 2013 13:55 


Hassan Rouhani will succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as Iran's president on August 3 [AP]


Hassan Rouhani, Iran's president-elect, has brushed off threats of military action by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu over Tehran's nuclear programme.

Referring to the US and Israel, Rouhani said: "When some say that all options are on the table and when a miserable regional country says such things, it makes you laugh."

In an address to Iran-Iraq war veterans on Wednesday, in which he rebuked Netanyahu, Rouhani said: "Who are the Zionists to threaten us?"

He also said that warnings of an Iranian retaliation had stopped Israel from carrying out its threats to launch strikes on the country.

According to the semi-official Mehr news agency, the Iranian foreign ministry characterised Netanyahu's remarks as Israel's's interference in the internal affairs of other countries and its attempts to damage other countries' relations with Iran.

Netanyahu on Sunday renewed his threat to take unilateral military action to halt Iran's nuclear programme.

"They're edging up to the red line. They haven't crossed it yet," the Israeli premier told CBS News' "Face the Nation."

"He's [Rouhani] criticising his predecessor for being a wolf in wolf's clothing. His strategy is be a wolf in sheep's clothing. Smile and build a bomb."

He also said that curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions is more urgent for Israel that it is for the US and that Iran must know that Israel is "prepared to take military action."

Western nations believe Iran is seeking the means to make atomic bombs, and have demanded Tehran abandon its most sensitive nuclear work.

But Iran denies the charge and says it needs atomic power for energy generation and medical research.

The election of Rouhani, a relative moderate, on June 14 has raised some hopes for a resolution of the long-running dispute over Iran's nuclear intentions.

Rowhani will succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president on August 3, but Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has the final say on nuclear policy.

I'm glad Rouhani found something to laugh about.  Being President of Iran doesn't seem like it would be a lot of fun.   

[Admiral Yi]

He called Israel a country!  Iran recognizes Israel!