Report:
Israel is reportedly willing to make concessions in peace negotiations with the Palestinians in return for international backing for an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The Times of London quoted an unnamed British official who said the deal could allow Israel to launch an attack on Iran “within the year.”
The Times report said Israel “was prepared to offer concessions on the formation of a Palestinian state as well as on its settlements policy and ‘issues’ with Arab neighbors, in exchange for international backing for an Israel operation in Iran.”
One European diplomat declared, “Israel has decided to place the Iranian threat over its settlements.”
The British newspaper also stated that the recent passage of two Israeli navy ships through the Suez Canal was a message to Iran and should be seen as serious preparations for a strike on Iran.
According to a report in the German weekly Stern, Germany’s foreign intelligence agency believes Iran is capable of producing and testing an atomic bomb within six months, much sooner than most analysts estimate.
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Obama: ‘Absolutlely’ no US green light for attacking Iran
The US has “absolutely not” given Israel a green light for a possible attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, US President Barack Obama
said Tuesday.
Washington Times: Fearing rejection, Israel won’t seek US OK for possible attack against Iran
Obama was qualifying comments Vice President Joe Biden had made Sunday that left the impression the US would not stand in the way of an Israeli action.
“We have said directly to the Israelis that it is important to try and resolve this in an international setting in a way that does not create major conflict in the Middle East,” said Obama, currently in Russia, during a CNN interview.
Obama said it was “very important that I’m as clear as I can be, and our administration is as consistent as we can [be] on this issue.”
- Analysis: Is the PM shifting Obama’s attention to Iran?
- Editorial: Biden’s signal
The president said that Biden had simply been stating the “categorical fact” that “we can’t dictate to other countries what their security interests are. What is also true is that it is the policy of the United States to resolve the issue of Iran’s nuclear capabilities in a peaceful way through diplomatic channels,” he said.
On Sunday, Biden was asked on ABC’s This Week whether the US would stand in the way militarily if Israel decided to take out Iran’s nuclear program.
The US “cannot dictate to another sovereign nation what they can and cannot do,” he said.
“Israel can determine for itself – it’s a sovereign nation – what’s in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else,” he said.
Israel had no formal comment on either the Obama or Biden remarks.
Nevertheless, the IDF has taken into consideration the possibility that it will not receive US permission to fly over Iraq on the way to Iran, and has drawn up an operational plan for this contingency. While its preference is to coordinate with the US, defense officials have said in the past that Israel was preparing a wide range of options for such an operation.
The Washington Times reported Tuesday that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his top deputies had not formally asked for US aid or permission for a possible military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, since they feared the White House would not approve.
The report quoted two unnamed Israeli officials.
An anonymous senior Israeli official was quoted as saying that Netanyahu was determined that “it made no sense” to press the matter after the negative response former US president George W. Bush.
Bush gave the prime minister’s predecessor, Ehud Olmert, a negative answer when he asked early last year for US assistance for possible military strikes on Iran.
“There was a decision not to press this because it was probably inadequate for the engagement policy and what we know about Obama’s approach to Iran,” the official said.
Yaakov Katz contributed to this report.