Is Israel Serious This Time?

It’s been common knowledge for some time that Israel had plans for an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities ready to go. Israel often announced it was at the point of launching an attack on Iran in order to threaten Tehran; Iran didn’t shrink from launching its own verbal attacks in return.

The psychological warfare between the two nations has been going on for years. And each time either side made its threats, one could see it was doing so in order to divert world attention away from some internal problem it was dealing with. Can the world assure itself that these latest reports of imminent Israeli military action are symptomatic of another diversionary maneuver?

Israel is currently having serious problems. The nation finds itself on the defensive as never before. Even its closest allies appear unwilling to put up with Tel Aviv’s dangerous unilateralism.

Or perhaps not? Three weeks ago, a new anti-Iranian script was written in Washington. Although the evidence was shot through with holes, reports of a purported Iranian assassination attempt against the Saudi ambassador to the United States was hyped so avidly by the American media that one might suspect there would soon be an escalation of the conflict with Iran.

The Pentagon announced it was beefing up U.S. presence in the Persian Gulf region; Great Britain, meanwhile, let it be known it was developing attack plans on various targets in Iran. And the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced the release next week of a report said to depict a sharp increase in the danger of Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

All this would seem to justify the fear that this time the threats may be real.