Israel pressures Bush administration to ignore latest Iran intel and stay vigilant

By M&C US News Dec 4, 2007, 16:55 GMT

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney (L) stands with President George W. Bush (R) EPA/Jonathan Ernst/POOL

Israel is not buying the US intelligence report released that claims Iran is not developing nuclear arms.

Leaders of Israel spoke of a continued threat of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons which they claim "must not be underestimated."

The Jerusalem Post reports that Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that "Iran was continuing in its efforts to produce a nuclear bomb despite the report. According to the minister, Iran had indeed stopped its program four years ago but has since renewed it."

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the report only emphasizes and strengthens the need for the international community to tighten sanctions on Iran so that it will not be able to produce nuclear weapons.

"The US still plans to continue to try to prevent Iran from producing nuclear weapons. We will make every effort - first and foremost with our friends in the US - to prevent the production of this type of weapon," he said to the Jerusalem Post.

The Post noted that potential fallout and current Israeli speculation over the lastest report's findings would "weaken" the American-backed support for military action against Iran.

"It is possible that this is correct, but I do not think that it is our place to make assessments about US [policy]. It is our responsibility to ensure that the correct things are done. Constantly speaking about the Iranian threat, as we have done recently, is not the right thing to do… words do not stop missiles," Barak told Army Radio.

National Infrastructures Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said that irrespective of the US intelligence report, "Israel must continue to act in every way against the Iranian nuclear threat."