Israel Considers Pre-Emptive Attack On Iran

Sky News ^

[jhpigott]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to rally support in his cabinet for an attack on Iran, according to government sources. The country's defence minister Ehud Barak and the foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman are said to be among those backing a pre-emptive strike to neutralise Iran's nuclear ambitions.

But a narrow majority of ministers currently oppose the move, which could trigger a wave of regional retaliation.

The debate over possible Israeli military action has reached fever pitch in recent days with newspaper leader columns discussing the benefits and dangers of hitting Iran.

[jhpigott]

I know, I know - this gets trodded out every few months. What is a little different this time is that a # of Israeli officials are po'd that these cabinet level discussions are getting leaked to the press. Maybe, this time they are serious about considering a strike on Iran and letting the "cat out of the bag" via leaks to the press could jeapordize strategic surprise?

[jhpigott]

ping

[jhpigott]

Here is the article where a few Israeli officials have expressed their disdain with the Iran leaks -

Media reports on Iran cause ‘tremendous damage’
http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=244070

[xzins]

Make it a clandestine attack, and use ordnance from a different source not easily traceable to Israel.

Make it look like terrorism, sabotage, accident, etc.

[goldstategop]

I believe in the end, the decision rests with the Prime Minister. We always knew this day was going to come. Increasingly, its now a question of timing. Israel is going to face this alone but there is no alternative for the survival of the Jewish people. The die is cast.

[Gen.Blather]

Israel needs to wait until we have a new president installed in office.

[jhpigott]

couple more wrinkles -

Israel Air Force conducts drills for long-range attacks

Normally, long-range drills last two weeks, but the IAF left this drill after five days, and by the weekend all the IAF planes had returned to their air bases in Israel.

The IAF’s early departure ignited the spreading of conspiracy theories which suggested Israel was heading into a possible mission, but according to a senior IAF official, the departure was not sudden and spontaneous, rather a short visit planned from the start, due to time constraints of the Italian and Israeli air forces.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-air-force-conducts-drills-for-long-range-attacks-1.393325

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Netanyahu was going to be in the United States on Nov 6-8....he has cancelled that trip as of today for unknown reasons.
http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=244080

[Genoa]

Long-term imminence is a funny thing. This has to be the most talked-about surprise attack in the annals of military history. There’s no way Iran can predict the timing if chatter is all they have to go on. It’s becoming a way of life.

[Genoa]

Israel needs to wait until we have a new president installed in office.

That's exactly what the mullahs can't do. They have to make good on their Obama Factor while it still exists. So, Israel has to gain the initiative now.

[meatloaf]

I’m wondering if our annouced departure from Iraq is pushing this decision.

[crosshairs]

Israel needs to wait until we have a new president installed in office.

The problem is, with this muzzie accomplice in office, the Iranians will launch their nukes before he's gone. Therefore, Israel can't wait that long.

[AU72]

Israel has always been tight on operational security.

This leads me to believe all this noise about a strike on Iran is misdirection designed to gauge reaction ahead of the real thing by the main players like Iran, US, and Russia.

[jhpigott]

“long-term imminence” - I like that. Never thought of it in those terms before, but it totally fits the bill here. This chatter has been on going for literally 10+ years.

Here is another coincidence for you -

IDF To Hold Mass Exercise In The Dan Region
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2801360/posts

[bert]

As of this moment, we do not know who wrecked the centrifuges or caused the explosions in the missile tunnel. Both were extremely clandestine.

Perhaps the call for action is to feign ignorance for the attacks that put Iran out of the attack mode

[jhpigott]

Very true. This would not fit their MO at all. But how would they ever really keep a lid on “operational security” for a strike on Iran. This story gets dragged out once every few months. I think it would be odd if we didn’t hear about it.

[Cringing Negativism Network]

Three weeks ago, Alex Jones insisted this was absolutely going to happen within ... 2 weeks.

[Longbow1969]

Israel is going to have to deal with a nuclear Iran, because they aren’t going to launch a direct attack. At this point, it’s just not going to happen. Iran’s program is too advanced and to work, unless Israel used nukes, it would have to be a sustained campaign which they simply can’t accomplish due to distance and hostile airspace.

This is something that might have been successful during the program’s infancy, unfortunately Israel dithered and it is too late now. Iran will have nukes and delivery systems within 5 years and only a revolution at home is going to prevent it.

[GonzoGOP]

Long-term imminence is a funny thing. This has to be the most talked-about surprise attack in the annals of military history. There’s no way Iran can predict the timing if chatter is all they have to go on. It’s becoming a way of life.

Sometimes your enemies teach you the best lessons. In 1973 Egypt would mobilize their troops, rush them to the Suez canal, then demobilize and go back to base. They did this every few weeks. Eventually Israel no longer reacted to the mobilizations. Then in October instead of returning the troops to their bases the Egyptians stormed across the canal catching Israel completely by surprise.

If you cannot hide you preparations from the enemy, don't even try to hide them. Simply make sure that the enemy fails to fully understand what it is that they are seeing.

[MichaelP]

I believe that Israel will have to attack Iran. Clearly the USA will not do it with Obama in charge. Their window of opportunity to stop Iran from fielding a nuclear weapon won't be open long. They may already have it! If they do attack Iran, think of what is going to happen in the world's equity markets. There is going to be the biggest flight to safety ever seen! Opportunity knocks!

Mike

[relee]

The moon is waxing and the skies are clear in Iran. Perhaps these recent events were staged to provoke an Iranian response, increased defense preparations at nuclear sites for example, to obtain better satellite intel.