Free Republic

As talks over a nuclear deal with Iran continued past self-imposed deadlines, Israel’s intelligence minister has warned that the military option is on the table–and noted that Israel does not need U.S. cooperation to carry out a pre-emptive strike. According to the Times of Israel, Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz told Israel Radio Thursday: “…if we have no choice we have no choice… the military option is on the table.” He reminded listeners that Israel had attacked Saddam Hussein’s Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981 without help from then-President Ronald Reagan (who actually condemned the attack).

Head of the IDF Planning Directorate Maj. Gen. Nimrod Sheffer tells Israel Hayom that “Israel will do whatever is best for Israel” if it feels Iran threatens its existence, even if it means defying the U.S. • “Any true partner would accept that,” he says. When asked whether he could feasibly envision a situation in which Israel’s air force bombs an Iranian nuclear facility contrary to U.S. directives, Maj. Gen. Nimrod Sheffer told Israel Hayom that “since it has happened in the past, I have no reason to believe it won’t happen again.” Sheffer, the head of the Israel Defense...

In private talks with European sources, the Saudis have expressed their willingness to cooperate with Israel on Iran, including use of Saudi air space by the IDF for a possible air strike, according to a report by Channel 2. Cooperation with Saudi Arabia would not come free, however. According to the report, the Saudi officials said they would need to see progress between Israelis and Palestinians before having enough legitimacy to allow Israel to use their air space. Arab governments, not only Israel, have been expressing concern over the development of a deal with Iran over its nuclear program, the...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon visited the Hermon Division of the IDF on Wednesday, following last week’s antitank missile attack from Hezbollah in the nearby Har Dov area, which killed two IDF soldiers. During the visit, Netanyahu and Ya’alon briefed Deputy Chief of Staff Gen. Yair Golan, and Northern Command Chief Major General Aviv Kochavi, and met with mayors from the region. “I came here with the defense minister and army commanders, to see the IDF’s preparedness against emerging threats against us in Golan Heights,” Netanyahu stated. “For some time, Iran has been trying to open...

Israel’s January 18 strike on Iranian and Hezbollah commanders in Syria showed Israel’s strategy wisdom and independent capacity. Israel’s reported strike January 18 on a joint Iranian-Hezbollah convoy driving on the Syrian Golan Heights was one of the most strategically significant events to have occurred in Israel’s neighborhood in recent months. Its significance lies both in what it accomplished operationally and what it exposed. From what been published to date about the identities of those killed in the strike, it is clear that in one fell swoop the air force decapitated the Iranian and Hezbollah operational command in Syria. The...

Israel seized an Iranian ship carrying advanced weapons destined for Gaza on Tuesday night and towed it to the Eilat port, the IDF said Wednesday. Elite troops from the Israel Navy's Shayetet 13 unit boarded the ship in open waters on the maritime border of Sudan and Eritrea, some 1,500 km south of Israel. The Klos C Iranian vessel was sailing under a Panamanian flag, making its way to Sudan from Iran carrying a cargo of advanced rockets capable of reaching distances of up to 200 km IDF Spokesperson's Unit simulation of events: Videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nYd2b__wxKY#t=0 The Iranian cargo ship carrying arms...

BREAKING: Israeli Navy Captures Iranian Boat Loaded With Syrian Missiles Destined for Gaza (VIDEO) MARCH 5, 2014 8:53 AM 9 COMMENTS Benny Gantz Ram Rothberg Israeli Navy KLOSCIran Gaza KLOSC Shayetet 13Israeli navy commandos KLOSC arms shipM-302 missile Iran Gaza StripM-302 missile Second Lebanon WarMoti Almoz Israeli Navy KLOSC Iran Israeli Naval commandos on Wednesday intercepted an Iranian ship in the Red Sea weighed down with missiles that was en route to the Gaza Strip, the IDF said in a statement. The boat, named KLOSC, was stopped by the elite naval commando unit Shayetet 13 as it was heading to...

Israel is working on coordinating plans for a possible military strike with Saudi Arabia, with Riyadh prepared to provide tactical support to Jerusalem, a British newspaper reported early Sunday. The two countries have both united in worry that the West may come to terms with Iran ...

President Obama stopped Israel from launching an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities a year ago, according to the then head of Israel’s National Security Council, Gen. Giora Eiland. Gen. Eiland spoke with Israeli journalist Rotem Sella, a former former senior writer for the daily Ma’ariv, at the Daily Capitalist blog on the “Mida” online news site. Some quickly-translated extracts from Sella’s report are below: Exclusive: Prime – Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was about to order an attack on Iran in September 2012, but canceled the operation in response to U.S. pressure, the former head of Israel’s National Security Council said last...

How America can stop what the New York Times calls “Israel’s March to War” is the hot topic this month. The issue—for the Times—is whether Israel is on the verge of bombing Iran’s nuclear sites, or can be persuaded to delay that decision and rely on the United States instead. This is what a parade of U.S. officials visiting Jerusalem this summer have counseled (and pressured) Israel to do. But the comments of Israel’s top officials suggest that its patience is wearing thin and that it may act soon, in weeks if not months. As the Associated Press put it,...

Barack Obama is fond of insisting that he "has Israel's back." Maybe he should mention that to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. In remarks to journalists in London quoted by the Guardian, General Martin Dempsey warned that any Israeli attack on Iran would "clearly delay but probably not destroy Iran's nuclear programs." He also said economic sanctions on Iran were having an effect and needed more time to work, but that the good they were doing "could be undone if [Iran] was attacked prematurely." And to underscore the firmness of his opposition to an Israeli strike, the Chairman added...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly shouted "Time has run out!" at U.S. Ambassador Dan Shapiro, as the two met in Israel earlier this week and discussed the Obama administration's position on Iran. The Jerusalem Post reported that Shapiro was in Israel for meetings with Netanyahu, and at some point the PM couldn't hold his frustration with President Obama in any longer: "Instead of pressuring Iran in an effective way, Obama and his people are pressuring us not to attack the nuclear facilities." Those present say Netanyahu then said assertively: "Time has run out!" Shapiro responded by alleging that Netanyahu...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have “almost finally” decided on an Israeli strike at Iran’s nuclear facilities this fall, and a final decision will be taken “soon,” Israel’s main TV news broadcast reported on Friday evening. Channel 2 News, the country’s leading news program, devoted much of its Friday night broadcast to the issue, detailing the pros and cons that, it said, have taken Netanyahu and Barak to the brink of approving an Israeli military attack despite opposition from the Obama administration and from many Israeli security chiefs. Critically, the station’s diplomatic correspondent Udi Segal said,...

The U.S. military's top officer made statements Thursday which appear to warn Israel that it should not expect U.S. assistance if it chooses to attack Iran's nuclear weapons program. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, said such an attack would "clearly delay but probably not destroy Iran's nuclear program," The Guardian reported Thursday. He added: "I don't want to be complicit if they [Israel] choose to do it." Dempsey said he did not know Iran's nuclear intentions, seeing as intelligence does not reveal intentions. What was clear, he said, was that the "international coalition" applying pressure...

he United States is worried that Shaul Mofaz and his Kadima party’s joining a unity government with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu could result in an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities at any given moment, according to a report on Channel 10 News on Thursday. U.S. government officials told Channel 10 News that they believe a Likud-Kadima joing government could make a decision about an Israeli attack on Iran at any moment and perhaps even before the U.S. presidential elections in November.

Obama’s Secret Plan? by Ari Bussel “Obama’s Window for Change May Close With Republican Win,” was the headline leading into the mid-term elections, followed the next day by: “Republicans Win Most Governorships, Sweep Midwest on Mounting Discontent,” and “Democrats Face Biggest House Midterm Defeat in Seven Decades.” The President, though, had a pre-planned party in India and elsewhere. Three thousand attendees were invited along, in a celebration that has been ongoing for two years and is expected to last another two. Unemployment at home? Tax the Rich! Broken promises, tough conditions? Blame the Republicans. Health insurance rates will not go...

Two Israeli missile class warships have sailed through the Suez Canal ten days after a submarine capable of launching a nuclear missile strike, in preparation for a possible attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

MAJOR EVENTS like the slumping economy and the war in Iraq are always likely to have an effect on the upcoming presidential election. But the fact that we're having an election is highly likely to have a major effect on one very specific international event: I suspect that Israel will launch an attack against Iran's nuclear facilities not later than one week before the U.S. presidential election. It will probably happen with U.S. assistance or, at least, acquiescence. It's unlikely that the U.S. will object. Assistance and cooperation by the United States would greatly enhance the likelihood of a successful...

The 13-year-old, who has been identified only as Roy to prevent him and his family facing persecution on their eventual return to Iran, arrived in Chaim Sheba hospital in Tel Hashomer, near Tel Aviv, on Friday, after a journey assisted by an Israeli businessman of Iranian origin. When surgery, chemotherapy and radiation at medical facilities in Iran failed to help their son, the boy's parents took him to Turkey, where doctors advised them to seek treatment at Sheba. The hospital has a highly regarded cancer treatment programme. The Israeli embassy in Ankara issued permits for them to enter the country....

... At a meeting with war veterans and families of soldiers killed in the Iran-Iraq war, the president added: "Soon the feast for elimination of Zionism and destruction of the arrogant ones will be held."