Perilous Times
Netanyahu says Iran must fear Israeli military strike
The Associated Press
Monday, November 8, 2010; 1:41 AM
JERUSALEM -- Israel's prime minister has told U.S. Vice President Joe
Biden that Iran must be made to fear a military strike against its
nuclear program, Israeli media reported Monday - a departure from the
Israeli leader's previous emphasis on using diplomacy to curb Tehran's
nuclear ambitions.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meeting with Biden in New Orleans,
said that although sanctions have hurt Iran, Tehran will be determined
to produce nuclear weapons unless it thinks a military strike is a real
option, the media reported, citing unidentified Israeli officials.
But U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, speaking in Australia on
Monday, said military action against Iran remains an option but it is
not the only way to stop it from building a nuclear bomb.
Israel, like the West, disputes Iran's claims that its nuclear program
is designed to produce energy, not bombs. In the past, it has said it
prefers to block the Iranian threat through diplomacy, though it has
not ruled out a military strike.
Israel sees Iran as its fiercest threat because of its nuclear program,
its ballistic missiles capable of hitting the Jewish state and Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's repeated references to Israel's
destruction.