Israel, Feeling Isolated, 'More Likely' to Attack Iran

Latest NIE signals to some Israelis a US 'retreat'

By Jim O'Neill, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 23, 2007 5:45 AM CST

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Israel, Feeling Isolated, 'More Likely' to Attack Iran — Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert pauses during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2007. Israel has dispatched an unscheduled delegation of intelligence officials to the U.S. to try to convince it that Iran is still trying to develop nuclear weapon, contrary to the findings of... (Associated Press)

Israel feels newly isolated and no less threatened by the US intelligence community's conclusion that Iran ended its weapons program in 2003, Newsweek reports. The atmosphere, says a former CIA official, makes it likely Israel will soon attack Iran. "Israel is not going to allow its nuclear monopoly to be threatened," he warned.

The recently issued US National Intelligence Estimate asserts that American has conclusive evidence Iran was developing nuclear arms but shut down the program in 2003. Critics say the report glosses over Iran’s continued development of a uranium enrichment program. "The irony is [the report] will accelerate Iranian acquisition of nuclear weapons," said a former Israeli official. (More Israel stories.)

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