Israel Spells Out Rationale For Offensive Actions Against Iran, Iraq, Syria

Defense and Foreign Affairs Daily | June 28, 2002

[Stand Watch Listen]

Analysis. From GIS (Global Information System) Station, Jerusalem, and other sources.

The Israeli Government on June 26, 2002, laid out an explicit case to the international community for offensive military operations against key Middle Eastern adversaries which pose a threat through the use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

Ephraim Halevy, Director of Mossad, the national-level Israeli intelligence agency, said on June 26, 2002, in a rare speech, that Israel could not spare any effort to foil, prevent or delay the attainment of weapons of mass destruction by states like Iran, Iraq, Syria and Libya. Speaking to a meeting of NATO’s North Atlantic Council in Brussels, Mr Halevy, warned that Islamist terrorism as a whole, and suicide attacks in particular, posed a "formidable threat" to NATO member states whose "Muslim communities are rapidly developing and increasing in numbers and influence". Mr Halevy harshly criticized Palestinian Authority President Yasir Arafat, who he said signs "an agreement with a view to violating it the moment circumstances would permit".

He said that Mr Arafat was also maintaining his "traditional link" with Iraqi Pres. Saddam Hussein.

The three-hour meeting took place behind closed doors at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, and lasted for some three hours, well beyond the time originally allocated. The most senior participant at the meeting was NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson, with Chairman of the Military Committee, Italian Admiral Guido Venturoni, also in attendance.

Halevy told the council that Mossad believed, despite the denials of the Iranian Defense Minister, that Iran was investing heavily in developing long-range missiles, with a range even beyond that of its Shihab-3, which is believed to have a range of 3,000km. He added that Iran was researching and developing "missiles with longer ranges, which could reach Europe and in the future, even North America". He said he had "no reason to offer for this entry into such long-range development", nor did he know who and what the potential targets would be.

In addition, he said, Iran was developing "weapon-grade nuclear capabilities", although he added: "For obvious reasons, I will not detail our information on this sensitive issue." Director Halevy pointed out that this activity, coupled with Iran’s investment in delivery systems, "should be a subject of constant attention of everyone of us in this hall".

Mr Halevy’s comments helped flesh out the firmness of the Israeli Government’s commitment to striking at WMD states which may be opposed to it. The March 4, 2002, Defense & Foreign Affairs Daily, in a report entitled Israeli Navy Begins to Take Its Place as Part of a Strategic Force Projection Triad, indicated that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were being molded into a strategic triad of forces to deal with exactly this challenge. That report said, in part:

"Reports that the Israel Defense Force (IDF) plans to add create a more strategic aspect to its function are believed to be correct and, in the view of many, surprisingly late in coming. In the past, the IDF has undertaken strategic military operations, with all three services prepared, essentially, to operate almost anywhere in the region to ‘do what is necessary’. However, the proposed creation of a specifically strategic deep-strike function for the Israeli Navy (IN: the Heyl ha-Yam) is seen as a highly-significant development."

"According to MENL news service, the IN has received Government approval to proceed with a plan to develop the force into a deep-strike force.

Specifically, the plan reportedly called for the conversion of ‘existing frigates and submarines’ as well as the procurement of new surface vessels and underwater vessels, with the capability of reaching into the Indian Ocean and capable of responding to ‘threats from Iran, Iraq and Libya’.

Significantly, the IN has for some decades maintained a force which has had true blue water potential, and has operated routinely down to the Bab el-Mandeb Straits at the southern end of the Red Sea. It has always maintained an ability to operate throughout the Mediterranean."

Significantly, while the Israeli Government in the latest statement, as well as earlier, agreed with the US White House and Congress that Libya was increasingly to be considered a WMD threat, the latest Israeli statement pointedly steers clear of any mention of Saudi Arabia, despite the fact that the Kingdom has strategic ballistic missiles and a chemical weapons program. Earlier, there had been hints from Israel that Saudi Arabia’s capabilities would be of concern to Jerusalem. The latest comments, however, seem to have moved away from such hints, and focused very specifically on the "core" hostile states. What remains left unsaid, however, by both Jerusalem and Washington, is the fact that the Saudi Government has strenuously supported efforts to sustain Libyan leader Mu’ammar al-Qadhafi in power, as has Egyptian Pres. Hosni Mubarak.

[chiefqc]

Do I hear the approach of distant thunder?

[walden]

It is certainly sounding like another world war, isn't it?

[hchutch]

Question is, will we beat the Isaelis to the punch by taking out the stuff first?