Netanyahu orders IDF to prepare for possible strike on Iran during 2014

Subject: Re: Netanyahu orders IDF to prepare for possible strike on Iran
during 2014


I think of the cost of murdering people around the globe, and I can't help
but wonder what sort of life would we all have if that bloody money had been
used to improve life, rather than destroy it?

Carl Jarvis
----- Original Message -----
From: "Miriam Vieni" <miriamvieni@optonline.net>
To: "'Blind Democracy Discussion List'" <blind-democracy@octothorp.org>
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2014 8:06 AM
Subject: Netanyahu orders IDF to prepare for possible strike on Iran during
2014


Haaretz Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Netanyahu orders IDF to prepare for possible strike on Iran during 2014

Despite talks between Iran and West, senior officers tell MKs 10b shekels
($2.9b) allocated to IDF to prepare for possible attack.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.580701

By Barak Ravid

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon have
ordered the army to continue preparing for a possible military strike on
Iran's nuclear facilities at a cost of at least 10 billion shekels ($2.89
billion) this year, despite the talks between Iran and the West, according
to recent statements by senior military officers.

Three Knesset members who were present at Knesset joint committee hearings
on Israel Defense Forces plans that were held in January and February say
they learned during the hearings that 10 billion shekels to 12 billion
shekels of the defense budget would be allocated this year for preparations
for a strike on Iran, approximately the same amount that was allocated in
2013.

Some MKs asked the army's deputy chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot,
and planning directorate official Brig. Gen. Agai Yehezkel whether they felt
there was justification for investing so much money in those preparations,
said the MKs present at the meetings, who asked that their names be withheld
because of the sensitivity of the issue. They said some lawmakers also asked
whether the interim agreement reached between Iran and the six powers in
November 2013, and the ongoing negotiations for a full nuclear accord, had
caused any change in the IDF's preparations.

The IDF representatives said the army had received a clear directive from
government officials from the political echelon - meaning Netanyahu and
Ya'alon - to continue readying for a possible independent strike by Israel
on the Iranian nuclear sites, regardless of the talks now happening between
Iran and the West, the three MKs said.

The IDF Spokesperson's Unit declined to respond to questions by Haaretz on
the matter, as did the Prime Minister's Office.

Ever since the interim accord between Iran and the six powers was reached,
Netanyahu has stressed that Israel will not consider itself bound by it. In
the last few weeks, as talks on a permanent accord have resumed, Netanyahu
has upped his rhetoric on the Iranian issue, and is again making implied
threats about a possible unilateral Israeli strike on the Iranian nuclear
sites.

"My friends, I believe that letting Iran enrich uranium would open up the
floodgates," Netanyahu said at the AIPAC conference earlier this month.
"That must not happen. And we will make sure it does not happen."

Ya'alon recently indicated during a speech at Tel Aviv University that his
view has shifed and he is now likely to support a unilateral Israeli strike
on Iran, in light of his assessment that the Obama administration will not
do so.

"We think that the United States should be the one leading the campaign
against Iran," Ya'alon said this week. "But the U.S. has entered talks with
them and unfortunately, in the haggling in the Persian bazaar, the Iranians
were better. ... Therefore, on this matter, we have to behave as though we
have nobody to look out for us but ourselves."

The second round of nuclear talks opened in Vienna on Tuesday, with the
participation of European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton,
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Jawad Zarif and senior diplomats from the
six powers. This was followed by a session involving the Iranian delegation
and representatives of the six powers, and by separate meetings between
Iranian representatives and representatives from each delegation. The U.S.
and Iranian negotiating teams also met.

After the first day of talks, Ashton's spokesman, Michael Mann, described
them as "positive, serious and substantive." Iranian media reported that
officials with the Iranian delegation said this round of talks will focus on
how much uranium enrichment Iran will be permitted as part of a final
accord, along with the future of the heavy water plant at Arak and the
lifting of sanctions.

In an opinion piece in Britain's Financial Times this week, Zarif argued
that his country is not seeking nuclear weapons and said the West's
suspicions will threaten Iran's national security. Nuclear weapons are a
tool of the past, Zarif argued, writing: "Israel's nuclear arsenal was of
little help in Lebanon in 2006."

Zarif said Iran must convince the West that it is not seeking nuclear arms,
citing the fatwa ostensibly written by supreme leader Ali Khamenei that
forbids the production of nuclear weapons. The exact language of this fatwa
has never been made public.

"Few now doubt that the only way to ensure that Iran's nuclear energy
programme will remain exclusively peaceful is to reach a mutually acceptable
agreement," wrote Zarif. "This shift did not occur overnight. It was
prompted by the realisation that coercion, pressure and sanctions only
result in more centrifuges, more resentment and deeper mistrust."


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For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. Haaretz
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Netanyahu orders IDF to prepare for possible strike on Iran during 2014
Despite talks between Iran and West, senior officers tell MKs 10b shekels
($2.9b) allocated to IDF to prepare for possible attack.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.580701
By Barak Ravid
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon have
ordered the army to continue preparing for a possible military strike on
Iran's nuclear facilities at a cost of at least 10 billion shekels ($2.89
billion) this year, despite the talks between Iran and the West, according
to recent statements by senior military officers.
Three Knesset members who were present at Knesset joint committee hearings
on Israel Defense Forces plans that were held in January and February say
they learned during the hearings that 10 billion shekels to 12 billion
shekels of the defense budget would be allocated this year for preparations
for a strike on Iran, approximately the same amount that was allocated in
2013.
Some MKs asked the army's deputy chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot,
and planning directorate official Brig. Gen. Agai Yehezkel whether they felt
there was justification for investing so much money in those preparations,
said the MKs present at the meetings, who asked that their names be withheld
because of the sensitivity of the issue. They said some lawmakers also asked
whether the interim agreement reached between Iran and the six powers in
November 2013, and the ongoing negotiations for a full nuclear accord, had
caused any change in the IDF's preparations.
The IDF representatives said the army had received a clear directive from
government officials from the political echelon - meaning Netanyahu and
Ya'alon - to continue readying for a possible independent strike by Israel
on the Iranian nuclear sites, regardless of the talks now happening between
Iran and the West, the three MKs said.
The IDF Spokesperson's Unit declined to respond to questions by Haaretz on
the matter, as did the Prime Minister's Office.
Ever since the interim accord between Iran and the six powers was reached,
Netanyahu has stressed that Israel will not consider itself bound by it. In
the last few weeks, as talks on a permanent accord have resumed, Netanyahu
has upped his rhetoric on the Iranian issue, and is again making implied
threats about a possible unilateral Israeli strike on the Iranian nuclear
sites.
"My friends, I believe that letting Iran enrich uranium would open up the
floodgates," Netanyahu said at the AIPAC conference earlier this month.
"That must not happen. And we will make sure it does not happen."
Ya'alon recently indicated during a speech at Tel Aviv University that his
view has shifed and he is now likely to support a unilateral Israeli strike
on Iran, in light of his assessment that the Obama administration will not
do so.
"We think that the United States should be the one leading the campaign
against Iran," Ya'alon said this week. "But the U.S. has entered talks with
them and unfortunately, in the haggling in the Persian bazaar, the Iranians
were better. ... Therefore, on this matter, we have to behave as though we
have nobody to look out for us but ourselves."
The second round of nuclear talks opened in Vienna on Tuesday, with the
participation of European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton,
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Jawad Zarif and senior diplomats from the
six powers. This was followed by a session involving the Iranian delegation
and representatives of the six powers, and by separate meetings between
Iranian representatives and representatives from each delegation. The U.S.
and Iranian negotiating teams also met.
After the first day of talks, Ashton's spokesman, Michael Mann, described
them as "positive, serious and substantive." Iranian media reported that
officials with the Iranian delegation said this round of talks will focus on
how much uranium enrichment Iran will be permitted as part of a final
accord, along with the future of the heavy water plant at Arak and the
lifting of sanctions.
In an opinion piece in Britain's Financial Times this week, Zarif argued
that his country is not seeking nuclear weapons and said the West's
suspicions will threaten Iran's national security. Nuclear weapons are a
tool of the past, Zarif argued, writing: "Israel's nuclear arsenal was of
little help in Lebanon in 2006."
Zarif said Iran must convince the West that it is not seeking nuclear arms,
citing the fatwa ostensibly written by supreme leader Ali Khamenei that
forbids the production of nuclear weapons. The exact language of this fatwa
has never been made public.
"Few now doubt that the only way to ensure that Iran's nuclear energy
programme will remain exclusively peaceful is to reach a mutually acceptable
agreement," wrote Zarif. "This shift did not occur overnight. It was
prompted by the realisation that coercion, pressure and sanctions only
result in more centrifuges, more resentment and deeper mistrust."
--

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