Netanyahu Orders IDF To Prepare For Possible Strike On Iran During 2014

[Purveyor]

Source: Haaretz

By Barak Ravid | Mar. 19, 2014 | 1:06 PM

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon have ordered the army to continue preparing for a possible military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities at a cost of at least 10 billion shekels ($2.89 billion) this year, despite the talks between Iran and the West, according to recent statements by senior military officers.

Three Knesset members who were present at Knesset joint committee hearings on Israel Defense Forces plans that were held in January and February say they learned during the hearings that 10 billion shekels to 12 billion shekels of the defense budget would be allocated this year for preparations for a strike on Iran, approximately the same amount that was allocated in 2013.

Some MKs asked the army’s deputy chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, and planning directorate official Brig. Gen. Agai Yehezkel whether they felt there was justification for investing so much money in those preparations, said the MKs present at the meetings, who asked that their names be withheld because of the sensitivity of the issue. They said some lawmakers also asked whether the interim agreement reached between Iran and the six powers in November 2013, and the ongoing negotiations for a full nuclear accord, had caused any change in the IDF’s preparations.

The IDF representatives said the army had received a clear directive from government officials from the political echelon – meaning Netanyahu and Ya’alon – to continue readying for a possible independent strike by Israel on the Iranian nuclear sites, regardless of the talks now happening between Iran and the West, the three MKs said.

Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.580701

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[Ash_F]

1. That is a lot of money for a small country. /nt

[sulphurdunn]

7. Not if another country is paying for it.

[olddad56]

15. that is a shitload of shekels.

[snappyturtle]

2. This pre-emptive war stuff needs to stop. imho nt

[Keefer]

3. Would you rather

Israel gets "wiped off the map?"

[snappyturtle]

6. Really? Doubtful. nt

[sulphurdunn]

8. Who could do that?

Last I heard, Israel has an advanced military establishment and nuclear weapons.

[Keefer]

12. In case you haven't heard,

Iran is either THIS close to getting the bomb, or they already have it. If they don't have a delivery system for it yet, the remember that missing airplane?

[sulphurdunn]

14. Your argument is supposition

unsupported by evidence. My question is: Why would they want to, even if they could? The only people doing any tangible sabre rattling are the Israelis, and they do it incessantly. They're even afraid of people who don't have an army, let alone nuclear weapons. After North Korea, Israel is probably the most belligerent, paranoid country on earth.

[Keefer]

17. My argument holds

up to anything anyone else can say. How many times did "I'madickhead" threaten to wipe them off the map? Israel has every right to self defense as Iran and ANYONE else does. The minute they have evidence a nuke is on the way, I wouldn't blame them one iota if they act preemptively.

[sulphurdunn]

19. No it doesn't

Are you suggesting that Israel has the right to attack Iran because it was alarmed and offended by what a former head of that state said in a speech? By that logic, Iran would be far more justified in attacking Israel since the Israeli head of state ceaselessly threatens Iran. There are four dangerously unstable nations crazy enough to start WWIII. Iran isn't one of them. They are: North Korea, Pakistan, India and Israel. All have nuclear weapons and are not signatories of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. The most belligerent of the four are Israel and North Korea. The most unstable are India and Pakistan. The US never had any influence with North Korea. It is rapidly losing it with the other three. You have plenty to worry about, but not from Iran.

[Keefer]

23. I'm suggesting Israel

has every right to defend itself. If they have CREDIBLE evidence that a nuke is on the way, they have every right to take whatever measures they deem appropriate.

[sulphurdunn]

25. If they have "credible evidence"

they are about to be attacked they have every right to defend themselves. They still posses no such evidence, even though they've been claiming to for years. Saying Israel has a right to preemptively attack Iran without evidence that Iran both possesses and intends to use a nuclear weapon cannot be justified by the Israels any more than it could be by any other country. It's what we did in Iraq. There were no WMD. Israel is employing the Dick Cheney 1% rule i.e even a 1% chance someone may attack you justifies hitting first. That's criminal.

[Keefer]

26. Okie

dokie.

[Fred Sanders]

27. Keeper has clearly swallowed the propaganda whole and refuses to keep up.

[cpwm17]

21. "How many times did "I'madickhead" threaten to wipe them off the map?"

never

[Keefer]

22. BS n/t

[AngryDem001]

18. Are you saying that Iran had someting to do with MH370?

What evidence do you have?

[Keefer]

20. No. Not at all.

I'm saying there is an airplane missing. It doesn't mean Iran stole it or knows where it is. It could be in Pakistan. It could be in India. It could be in Somalia. It could be at the bottom of the ocean. It could be on planet "Q" somewhere. Until it's found, it should be treated as a potential weapon of mass destruction.

[olddad56]

16. as opposed to them wiping someone else off of the map? What is the difference?

[Comrade Grumpy]

4. Shut up and just do it. I dare you.

[dipsydoodle]

5. I get it ok on mobile.

Just checked and its fine on a PC too.

[Earth_First]

10. Took off the payroll for this article...

...you know, for maximum exposure.

[Submariner]

9. Take your shirt off Bibi and go horseback riding

then you can sound tough like your mentor Putin.

[albino65]

11. It goes to show.

These are the true warmongers...old men who get their nut watching young men and women die for a dead idealogy.

[kelliekat44]

13. +++1,000 nt

[bananas]

24. "The exact language of this fatwa has never been made public."

Zarif said Iran must convince the West that it is not seeking nuclear arms, citing the fatwa ostensibly written by supreme leader Ali Khamenei that forbids the production of nuclear weapons. The exact language of this fatwa has never been made public.

“Few now doubt that the only way to ensure that Iran’s nuclear energy programme will remain exclusively peaceful is to reach a mutually acceptable agreement,” wrote Zarif. “This shift did not occur overnight. It was prompted by the realisation that coercion, pressure and sanctions only result in more centrifuges, more resentment and deeper mistrust.”