Israeli Top Brass Not Convinced About Iran's Nuclear Might
April 12, 2006 — -- Several of Israel's military brass are urging caution over Iran's claims to have enriched uranium.
In interviews in the Israeli media and on the radio, two of Israel's most senior military commanders said they believed Iran was still a long way from producing a nuclear weapon.
Because Israel is considered to be on the front line of the Iranian nuclear danger and has been the target of explicit threats by the Iranian president, the country's posture on the nuclear showdown issue is carefully followed by the international community.
Diplomacy Before Strikes
In 1981, the Israeli Air Force destroyed the embryonic nuclear ambitions of Saddam Hussein's Iraq, sending planes to bomb the country's nuclear reactor at Osirek. Some in the international community assume that Israel has already planned similar but more complex operations against Iran's scattered facilities.
In recent weeks, however, Israeli leaders have stressed that suspicions that Iran intends to build its own bomb are well founded, and that Iran's nuclear program is a threat not just to Israel but to the whole world.
Speaking on Israel's Army Radio this morning, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz said the international community should not see Iran's uranium enrichment as the significant breakthrough Iran's leaders were making it out to be.
"The Iranians aren't there yet. It will take them time before they achieve nuclear capability," he said. "I think things will change in this process and we shouldn't see this as a foregone conclusion."
When asked about possible Israeli plans to strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, Halutz said Israel should follow the diplomatic lead of the international community but hinted this may change.
"We shouldn't look for Israeli solutions, nor recommend them. Everything has its time," he said.
In interviews with two of Israel's top-selling newspapers this morning, the head of military intelligence Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin warned that President Ahmadinejad's claim "is intended to strengthen Iran in its negotiations with the international community."
He went on to say, however, that the limited uranium enrichment success claimed by the Iranians meant they had crossed a technological threshold, and he warned "they could reach a nuclear bomb within about three years, by the end of the decade."
But he emphasized that the Iranians had a long way to go before they could produce weapons-grade uranium.
"This is significant progress, but the fact that they can ride a bike does not mean that they will be able to ride at 80 kilometers per hour [50 miles per hour] without falling off," Yadlin said.
Both men would not say whether Israel was planning its own military strike option against Iran's nuclear program, though most people in Israel assume that such plans exist.