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Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Wednesday that Iran poses the largest, most dangerous threat to the current world order, adding that Israel expects that the international community will step up efforts to act against it.
Speaking to Israel Radio following recent reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minsiter Ehud Barak are pushing the cabinet to support an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites, Lieberman rejected the public discussion on the subject.
"99% of all the reports have no connection to reality," he told Israel Radio, but added that there is much that must be done regarding the Iranian issue.
"The international community must prove its ability to make decisions and enforce tough sanctions on Iran’s central bank as well as halt the purchasing of oil."
Haaretz reported on Wednesday that Netanyahu and Barak recently persuaded Lieberman, who previously objected to attacking Iran, to support such a move.
Senior ministers and diplomats said the International Atomic Energy Agency’s report, due to be released on November 8, will have a decisive effect on the decisions Israel makes.
The commotion regarding Iran was sparked by journalist Nahum Barnea’s column in Yedioth Ahronoth last Friday. Barnea’s concerned tone and his editors’ decision to run the column under the main headline ("Atomic Pressure" ) repositioned the debate on Iran from closed rooms to the media’s front pages.
Reporters could suddenly ask the prime minister and defense minister whether they intend to attack Iran in the near future and the political scene went haywire.
Western intelligence officials agree that Iran is forging ahead with its nuclear program. Intelligence services now say it will take Iran two or three years to get the bomb once it decides to (it hasn’t made the decision yet ).
According to Western experts’ analyses, an attack on Iran in winter is almost impossible, because the thick clouds would obstruct the Israel Air Force’s performance.