Olmert: U.S., Not Israel, Should Lead Iran Strike
Israel could take part in a possible military strike on Iran, but should not lead it, former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told CNN on Monday, saying that military action should take place only as if all other efforts fail.
Olmert’s remarks on Iran join a recent and heated Israeli debate on the issue, as current and past officials publicly criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stance on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
Most recently, former Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin said he has “no faith” in Netanyahu’s and Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s ability to lead Israel to war with Iran, portraying them as “messianic.”
Former Mossad chief Meir Dagan backed its counterpart on Sunday, saying Diskin spoke “his own truth.” Dagan is known as an opposition to Netanyahu’s and Barak’s militant stand, saying there is still time left to pressure Iran diplomatically to withdraw its nuclear intentions.
In a recent interview for Israel’s Independence Day, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff contradicted Netanyahu and Barak when he said the international sanctions are working, adding that he sees the Iranian regime as “very rational”. Days later Barak was quoted saying Iranian regime is rational, “but not in the western sense of the word.”
Speaking to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Monday, Olmert was asked about this “war within Israel” on how to deal with Iran’s nuclear program, with the former PM saying: “I don’t think there is a war, there is a serious and genuine dispute.”
For more, go to Haaretz.com
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
