‘World Expects Israel to Bomb Iran’ Published: 07/02/08, 5:15 AM

by Ze'ev Ben-Yechiel

(IsraelNN.com) The West assumes that Israel is aware of the magnitude of the threat from a nuclear Iran, and expects Israel to strike Iran, according to a Wednesday report.
In the report on the Ynet news service, Yossi Kuperwasser, the former head of the IDF's Research and Strategical Assessment Division, has confirmed what may already be seen on the headlines of many of the world’s newspapers—a global expectation that Israel alone will confront militarily the Iranian regime, and that an Israeli air attack on Iran is imminent.

A Senior high ranking U.S. Pentagon official late Tuesday published an assessment that Israel will likely strike within 15 days. As the Iranian threat escalates against Israel, the Western nations assume Israel will do their dirty work for them, Kuperwasser asserts.
The former senior IDF officer has many years’ experience in tracking Iran's efforts to acquire nuclear weapons. He says that the deciding factor in the Iranian threat is Tehran's ability to produce industrial quantities of high-grade uranium. "Within 5 months, the Iranians will have enough uranium for a nuclear bomb," Kuperwasser notes.
Commenting on the new SA-20 missile defense system currently in route to Iran from Russia and should be deployed within 2 weeks, the Israeli intelligence expert says that the missile system could make it much more difficult for Israel to launch an aerial strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
"This is a missile system that can protect against missiles and airplanes. The Iranians have another aerial system today, but they view it as inadequate. Clearly, the SA-20 missile system will minimize the effectiveness of an aerial strike, accelerating previous timetables" he says.
The West has begun to take the Iranian threat seriously, according to Kuperwasser, but for Israel it's nearly too little, too late.
"The West realizes that this is an Iranian challenge to the existing world order, aiming for Islam to enjoy a different status," says Kuperwasser. "Finally people have woken up, but the question is whether officials in the US and Europe realize the gravity at this time. It looks as though everyone is trying to shift the responsibility to someone else, and they believe that ultimately, if nothing changes, Israel will do the job for the West."
Meanwhile, as Western nations slowly emerge from denial, Iran continues its nuclear program undeterred, in the belief that nobody will stand in their way, notes Kuperwasser.
"Iran realizes that the West is sensitive to pain and money, and won't embark on an operation that would significantly boost oil prices, possibly to the $200 a barrel level" he says. "Every time the possibility of a military strike is raised, the Revolutionary Guard's commander speaks out and warns against the chaos. They believe that the likelihood of a strike is very low, due to the currently high oil prices.
"In this poker game, the Iranians are leading at this time," Kuperwasser remarks. "The pressure should be boosted considerably, and it should be made clear that a military move will be carried out if needed…if the Iranians believe that the West is serious, they will think twice about whether it is worthwhile for them to continue."
These statements by a member of Israel’s intelligence elite follow recent comments from the United States defense establishment, widely published in the international press, that Israel is expected to respond militarily to the Iranian nuclear threat. Israeli government officials late Tuesday slammed the reports, calling them “irresponsible” and stating Israel has no intention of attacking Iran, accusing the Western media with preempting Israeli policy before Israel itself has a chance to determine one.
“We cannot believe that the press is making such conclusions based on a report from another country. This is irresponsible and shows a disrespect for the normal channels of communication and diplomacy,” charged a spokesman for the Israeli government on Israel Army Radio Tuesday evening.