Would Israel Attack Iran, Or Is Netanyahu "Bluffing"?

By: Tucker Reals
Topics: World Watch

(AP Photo/Debbie Hill, Pool)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned against allowing Iran to become a nuclear power in some of his harshest rhetoric yet.

In a report published Tuesday, The Atlantic says Netanyahu's message was clear: If President Obama doesn't act to stop Iran developing a nuclear weapon, the Israelis may be forced to attack Iran and do it themselves.

The article is titled, "Netanyahu to Obama: Stop Iran—Or I Will".

Having read it, I can't find the quote which makes the threat of a unilateral strike on Iran's nuclear sites so explicit, but there is no ambiguity in Netanyahu's dire warning that a nuclear Iran would be a danger, not just to Israel, but to the U.S. and the rest of the peace-loving world.

"You don't want a messianic apocalyptic cult controlling atomic bombs. When the wide-eyed believer gets hold of the reins of power and the weapons of mass death, then the entire world should start worrying, and that is what is happening in Iran," Netanyahu told The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg.

"The Obama presidency has two great missions: fixing the economy, and preventing Iran from gaining nuclear weapons," the hardline Israeli leader said, just hours before taking the reigns of the government for a second time on Tuesday.

Tempering the you-do-it-or-we-will tone of the article, Goldberg adds that Netanyahu did voice support for President Obama's effort to end Tehran's quest for a nuclear weapon (a quest the Islamic Republic's leaders have vehemently denied – in spite of Western intelligence agencies) through dialogue.

"How you achieve this goal is less important than achieving it," the Israeli leader said. While expressing very little optimism, Netanyahu acknowledged that negotiations with the regime could still work.

"I think the Iranian economy is very weak, which makes Iran susceptible to sanctions that can be ratcheted up by a variety of means," Goldberg quoted him as saying.

The reporter also conceded that any Israeli threat of unilateral military action against Iran may well be "a tremendous bluff".

Either way, balancing Israel's desperate cry for tough action against Iran with his own ambitions to eek out a peace between Israel and the Palestinians will shape Mr. Obama's Middle East policy for months and years to come. Goldberg's article offers an interesting preview of the changing dialogue between Washington and Israel.

Tucker Reals
Tucker Reals is a senior news editor and overnight site editor for CBSNews.com, based at CBS News' London bureau.

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by YAWL September 18, 2009 12:51 PM EDT: No wonder that peace has never been obtained in the middle-east,,,Jews Muslims and Christians trying to come to a sensible solution with a brain that worships a non-existant god.; Reply to this comment


by travissmily April 20, 2009 1:50 PM EDT: "You don't want a messianic apocalyptic cult controlling atomic bombs. When the wide-eyed believer gets hold of the reins of power and the weapons of mass death, then the entire world should start worrying, and that is what is happening in Iran,"
Sounds more like Israel. Iran is along way from having a bomb and they don't even want one. Israel is the wild card in the Middle East. Time to reign in the idiots and put them to work for the $2 bn they get from us every year.; Reply to this comment


by zykracosmos April 20, 2009 11:18 AM EDT: A pre-emptive strike by Israel would be a suicidal mission, because of world condemnation and supposed justified Iranian relaliation, which would be much more comprehensive than anything yet submitted to the press. Israel would quickly find itself having to go nuclear itself in order to counter a massive Iranian response, and this would truly be the Middle Eastern nightmare the world regards as a worst-case development. Those who brush off Netanyahu's statements as an obvious public bluff do not know his history, and to think that this far-right fanatic would not act pre-emptively is a mistake in itself. Obama is doing all the right things from his position, which is to begin to engage moderate Iranians in an attempt to revitalize the voice of reason in the government infrastructure there, with the goal of eventually marginalizing the clerics who have the last call on government policy there today. Another sharp tactic is to quickly defuse all issues that have alienated the Russians as our partners in addressing Islamic fundamentalism. The sooner we take the European missile deployment off the table the sooner we can regain the help we must have from the Russians in Middle Eastern affairs.; Reply to this comment


by lumba1001 April 18, 2009 10:39 PM EDT: It is very scary that Israel would nuke Iran if it wasn't for the Iranian swift response. Israel beleive it is alright to attack other country pre-emptively and kill thousands of civilian just so they can feel more comfortable. It is good that no Israeli leader have the guts to take such a decision because they know that the Iranian will not hesitate to defend their country. Anyway, Israel is just bluffing. Israel couldn't defeat Hezbollah in 2006, I don't see how can they defeat Iran.; Reply to this comment


by scooter_berk April 5, 2009 5:33 PM EDT: Israel are the nazzi, occupiers, French fought against the German, the occupiers and were not qualified as terrorist but liberator, As Palestinian are.
Nuke the colons , nuke the foreigner European and Russian.
If Iran is attacked , I hope for they respond with no fear and Nuke Israel,
Instead if thinking of peace with Syria and Palestine , the israelis think about war again, they don't get the Lebanon Lesson, give the land back or be NUKED.; Reply to this comment


by scooter_berk April 5, 2009 5:29 PM EDT: Solve the problem that exist for 60 years , Nuke the occupiers.
Nuke Israel.

BiBi go back to europe.; Reply to this comment


by BradleyB5 April 4, 2009 12:12 PM EDT: Mark my words, country that attacks first will be the villain in world opinion and will suffer for it. We have had enough of "unilateral preemption". The Israeli govt. should be fair to all those that inhabit lands that they control. Only then will their image in the Mideast change. That approach is much more powerful than the insane idea that a few hundred IDF airplanes could suddenly, magically cleanse all 636,372 sq mi of Iran of buried nukes. By that logic Iran should preemptively strike Israel's nukes -and don't tell me that Israel is a shining example of democracy and always shows great justice and restraint so they somehow cannot be compared.; Reply to this comment


by narfan2226 April 2, 2009 11:58 AM EDT: In any case Israel will never attack Iran. Making projection about when and where they will attack Iran is just a game of fear warmongering. The Israeli propaganda?s machine is a game that Iran doesn?t even bother with it. Israel doesn?t have the military capability; neither the stomach nor the political will, to take action. The almighty Israeli army couldn?t handle a militia like Hezbollah; how are they going to handle 70 million well trained Iranians? It seems by the day that the Jews are getting more schizophrenic than ever.; Reply to this comment


by bwaltersNYC April 2, 2009 8:29 AM EDT: If Israel was going to take aggressive action against Iran it would have done so already. After the miserable failure of the 2006 Lebanon incursion, it's hard to imagine Israeli generals being very confident of their chances in a drawn out conflict with Iran. Nevertheless, it's important for Netanyahu to appear ready to pull the trigger so Israel has some leverage a the negotiating table.; Reply to this comment