Disputes among Israeli leadership about attack on Iran's nuclear facilities

sraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud
Barak would like to attack Iran's nuclear facilities this autumn, but
have not found support among the command of the army and security
services, a leading columnist wrote today in one of the leading newspapers
of the country, "Yediot Ahronoth", RIA-Novosti reports.


"It is no less significant that not one senior official in the
establishment -- not in the military, nor in defence establishment,
nor even the president (Shimon Peres) -- currently supports an Israeli
attack," Turkey's Hurriyet daily quotes the Haaretz newspaper.


Israel, the sole nuclear power in the Middle East, says Iran's nuclear
programme poses a real threat, and has repeatedly refused to
rule out military action to halt Tehran's nuclear activity.

In a Thursday interview, Barak said that a recent US intelligence
report made the Iranian issue more "urgent." Regarding the differences
between Israel and Washington, "the discourse is much less
black-and-white than is thought," Hurriyet quotes Barak saying.

He also said that a decision on a military strike on Iran's nuclear
facilities would necessitate a vote in the Israeli government, which
currently has 29 members.

"The image created in the public realm, as if two men sit and conjure
fantasies or reach decisions on their own, is absolute malarkey... Only
the government can decide on such issues," Hurriyet quotes Barak as saying.