Netanyahu:U.S. assurances on Iran not enough

Netanyahu :U.S. assurances on Iran not enough
2 August, 2012 – By Robert Burns – The Daily Star

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that U.S. statements of solidarity with Israel and its assurances that military strikes are still an option aren’t working to convince Iran that the West is “serious about stopping them” from developing nuclear weapons.

Standing with Leon Panetta, Netanyahu dismissed the U.S. defense chief’s counsel to give diplomacy more time to halt Iran’s nuclear program.

“Right now the Iranian regime believes that the international community does not have the will to stop its nuclear program,” Netanyahu said at his residence in Jerusalem. “This must change, and it must change quickly because time to resolve this issue peacefully is running out.”

Earlier Wednesday, at an Israeli defense site south of Tel Aviv, Panetta stood beside Defense Minister Ehud Barak to declare that the Obama administration is serious about the possibility of resorting to military force against Iran, while adding that all non-military measures must be exhausted first.

Barak sounded as unconvinced as the prime minister, saying he appreciated U.S. support but adding there was an “extremely low” probability of international sanctions ever compelling Iran to give up its nuclear program.

Netanyahu’s and Barak’s statements dramatized the growing strains in U.S.-Israeli relations over Iran.

Tehran has said its nuclear work is for civilian energy uses only, but suspicions it will use enriched uranium for nuclear weapons have resulted in international sanctions and saber-rattling from Israel, which perceives a nuclear Iran as an existential threat. The U.S. has discouraged Israel from a unilateral, pre-emptive military strike on Iran.

Panetta Wednesday said repeatedly “all options,” including military force, are on the table to stop Iran, should sanctions and diplomacy – the preferred means of persuasion – ultimately fail.

However, Panetta said, “If they continue and if they proceed with a nuclear weapon … we have options that we are prepared to implement to ensure that that does not happen.”

Netanhayu has said that if necessary he will order military action against Iran even if Washington objects. Panetta said in his appearance with Barak that he understands Israel must make such important decisions on its own terms.

“Their effort to decide what is in their national security interest is something that must be left up to the Israelis.”

The Panetta visit comes just days after U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney met with top Israeli officials and said that if he becomes president, he will “honor” whatever Israel decides to do about Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

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