Israel raises nuclear stakes with Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert dramatically raised the stakes in the international showdown with Iran on Jan. 24, with a clear warning that his country was prepared to use military force to prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. "The Jewish people, with the scars of the Holocaust fresh on its body, cannot afford to allow itself to face threats of annihilation once again," Olmert said in a speech to a high-level security conference in Herzliya. "No nation has the right even to consider its position. It is the obligation of every country to act against this will all its might. We can stand up against nuclear threats and even prevent them," he said. Israeli military officials warned this week that Israel–acting alone or in coordination with the US–could launch preemptive military strikes against Iran before the end of this year. The government describes Iran's nuclear program as an "existential threat" to Israel that should be stopped before Iranian scientists manage to produce a nuclear bomb. A senior British military source said that the Israelis were serious about the use of military force to stop Iran, and were now engaged in preparing public opinion for such a prospect. "They're watering the turf," the source said.