Israel for the past week has been on edge as local media brings to light intensive government discussions over whether or not to launch a preemptive strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.
It started last Friday when Israel's largest newspaper, Yediot Ahronot, ran a frontpage editorial asserting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak had already determined that a strike on Iran was necessary, and were applying pressure to get the rest of the cabinet to give a green light.
Days later, the Knesset was embroiled in constant debate over the necessity of attacking Iran before it could build a nuclear bomb. Western intelligence officials now believe Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, but may still be two years away from fielding operational warheads.
A number of government officials blasted the fact that the debate over whether or not to strike Iran had burst forth into the public domain, arguing that if such a strike is deemed necessary, Israel may have lost all hope of surprising the enemy.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in an interview with Israel Radio did not refute that an Iran strike is being discussed, but did say that much of what is being reported in the media is inaccurate.
Fuelling local fears that an attack on Iran is imminent were three major military exercises conducted over the past week: Read the rest on: israel today Magazine
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