Israel turns up the pressure on Iran in high stakes game: is war looming?

August 2, 2012 – ISRAEL – Former Mossad chief’s statement to ‘NY Times’ comes as Netanyahu and Barak both warn time for sanctions, diplomacy is running out, amid speculation that an attack may take place before US elections in November. Former Mossad chief Efraim Halevy added to speculation of an impending Israeli military strike against Iran’s nuclear program in a statement published by The New York Times Wednesday. “If I were an Iranian, I would be very fearful of the next 12 weeks,” Halevy said. Speculation in the media and in political circles about the timing of a potential attack on Iran has focused in recent weeks on whether it needs to happen over the summer, before the US elections, or if it can wait until afterward, maybe as far away as next spring. Earlier in the week, both Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned that time was running out for sanctions and diplomacy to have an effect on Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Both men made the statements during a visit to Israel by US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. “We clearly have something to lose by this stretched time [during] which sanctions and diplomacy takes place, because the Iranians are moving forward, not just in enrichment,” Barak said. Speaking before meeting Panetta in his office, Netanyahu said the constant rhetoric about all options being on the table regarding Iran has not moved the ayatollahs. –Jerusalem Post