Washington – When asked
Wednesday about rumors that Israel is seeking support for an
attack against Iran press secretary Jay Carney said “I’m not
going to respond to that kind of speculation.”
Carney was asked after a report in
Haaretz earlier in the day cited an Israeli official who said Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was trying to gain support for
attacking Iran's nuclear facilities.
England is also preparing itself to
attack, with British officials saying according to The
Guardian "that if Washington presses ahead it will seek, and
receive, UK military help for any mission, despite some deep
reservations within the coalition government."
However there is opposition to the idea
within the Israeli government. Some
of them include Interior Minister Eli Yishai of the
ultra-Orthodox Shas party, Intelligence Minister Dan Meridor,
Strategic Affairs Minister and Netanyahu confidant Moshe Yaalon, and
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz. Others are army chief Benny
Gantz, head of Israel's intelligence agency Tamir Pardo, the chief of
military intelligence Aviv Kochavi, and the head of Israel's domestic
intelligence agency Yoram Cohen. Recently-retired head of
Mossad Meir Dagan publicly
advised against attacking Iran, saying it would be stupid and
risks causing a region-wide war.
The Israeli people are nearly split on
the issue. In
a poll, which asked Jews and Arabs where they stand on the issue,
41% say they're opposed to an attack against Iran while 39% support
it. 20% are undecided.
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