SPEAKING AHEAD of today’s visit to Israel by US armed forces chief Gen Martin Dempsey, Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak said a decision about an Israeli strike on Iran was “very far off.”
Asked in an army radio interview if “very far off” meant weeks or months, Mr Barak said, “I wouldn’t want to provide any estimates. It’s certainly not urgent. I don’t want to relate to it as though tomorrow it will happen.”
Israel views a nuclear Iran as an existential threat, and has dismissed Teheran’s claims that its nuclear development is entirely peaceful.
Iran’s nuclear programme will be top of the agenda during Gen Dempsey’s talks with Mr Barak and senior Israeli generals and intelligence chiefs. This is his first visit to Israel since being appointed chairman of the joint chiefs of staff in September.
Mr Barak said Jerusalem was co-ordinating with Washington on how to prevent Iran obtaining a nuclear bomb, but he refused to confirm Israel would inform the US before any military strike.
“We haven’t made any decision to do this. This entire thing is very far off,” he said.
The Ha’aretz newspaper reported that Israel will present Gen Dempsey with an intelligence estimate that Iran has still not decided whether to manufacture a nuclear bomb. Israel believes that while Teheran continues to improve its nuclear capabilities, it has not yet taken a decision to attach a nuclear warhead to a missile.
Asked for an assessment on how long it would take Iran to build a nuclear warhead, were it to make that decision, Mr Barak said, “It’s not a matter of years. There are those who say a year or a year and half, it does not make much difference.”
In a separate development, two Palestinians were killed yesterday close to the Gaza border with Israel. Hamas authorities in Gaza said the two were unarmed civilians and included a 17-year-old.
An Israeli military spokesman said aircraft and tanks opened fire after the gunmen were spotted, and explosives they were carrying blew up during the attack.