Long article from The Forward. Money grafs:
For the last several months, Israeli officials have been prodding Washington to carry its campaign against the "axis of evil" on to Iran immediately after the end of the Iraq war. Israel's national security adviser, former Mossad chief, Ephraim Halevy, as well as longtime Sharon adviser and former Cabinet minister Dan Meridor, have been warning Washington against "complacency" toward Iran. They, along with others, fear Tehran could emerge strengthened from the decimation of Iraq, its main rival, and thus emboldened in its belligerent attitude toward Israel.
Israeli policy-makers maintain that Iran is still "a year or two" away from assembling a nuclear bomb. Still, they view Iran as a clear and present danger to Israel, more dangerous in some eyes than Iraq. In addition to sharing intelligence on Iran's new uranium-enrichment facility in Natanz, Israel has recently conveyed to American and British intelligence services reports of a dramatic increase in Iranian support and finance for anti-Israeli terrorism. The reports say Iranian support has spread beyond Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad to include Fatah cells in Gaza and the West Bank.
Anyone see an Osirak in Natanz's future? |