Israeli Officials Slam US for ‘Allowing’ Iran’s Civilian Nuclear Program

Capability a 'Wretched Red Line,' Officials Say

Fresh off of Leon Panetta’s most recent Israeli visit, top Israeli officials are loudly bashing US policy in the Israeli press, saying it is no longer acceptable to them for the US to put a “red line” on attacking Iran at nuclear capability.

The officials defended this position by saying that it allowed Iran to develop things other than nuclear capability without being attacked, and that it amounted to “de facto allowing” of Iran’s civilian nuclear program.

“We are not prepared to allow that,” the Israeli officials said, appearing to suggest that Iran not having the capability to build nuclear weapons was as good an excuse to attack as them having the capability, because “who knows when they’ll decide and what they’ll decide.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to be pushing the idea of a unilateral Israeli attack against Iran soon, downplaying the many arguments against such a strike as irrelevant to the issue and promising to take responsibility.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.