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Israeli defense chief offers warnings on Iran and Lebanon
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak was due to arrive in Washington this week bearing two warnings for American policymakers: Sanctions won't derail Iran's nuclear power program, and Israel will strike directly at Lebanese government institutions if Hezbollah launches rockets at Israeli towns.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Washington Post, Barak said there are still questions about how long to give sanctions against Iran the chance to work and the cutoff point after which it would no longer be feasible to neutralize Iran's uranium enrichment program with a military strike. Iranian officials insist that their efforts are geared purely toward peaceful energy development and that they have no intention of building a weapon.
Barak said: "It's still time for sanctions, [but] probably, at a certain point, we should realize that sanctions cannot work."
Israeli officials have carefully parsed President Obama's words, hoping to find evidence that he would be willing to use military force. For Barak, that evidence came in Obama's December speech accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, when Obama said there will be times when "the use of force [is] not only necessary but morally justified."
Another area where Israel believes force may be necessary is Lebanon. Since a summer war with Hezbollah ended four years ago with the deployment of a beefed-up U.N. contingent, Israel says the Iranian-backed militia has built an arsenal of 40,000 missiles and rockets. Barak warned that the next time violence breaks out, Israel would strike directly at the Lebanese government, which he said is allowing Hezbollah to rearm.