When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in .

You've reached your limit of one free article.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime .

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Exclusive International news coverage

Ad-free experience NEW

Weekly digital Magazine NEW

9 daily & weekly Newsletters

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Free trial

30-days free access, then $2.90
per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
Israel

Posturing Or Preparing For War? What’s Behind Israel’s Tough Words On Iran

Analysis: Israel has threatened Teheran with a military preemptive strike, but tougher sanctions may be what it is really after.

A drill last week in central Israel simulating a missile attack (Israel Defense Forces)
A drill last week in central Israel simulating a missile attack (Israel Defense Forces)
Serge Dumont

GENEVA - On Tuesday, sirens went off in and around Tel Aviv's International airport. Four days after a drill simulating an Iranian chemical missile attack on the Mikveh Israel Agricultural School, this week's training was meant to prepare the airport staff and residents of surrounding villages for a massive bombing by Iranian missiles and Hezbollah rockets.

According to recent polls, a narrow majority of Israelis support attacking Iran, with nearly as many people opposed to the idea. But 80% believe that no matter what, the situation is bound to blow up, and that Hezbollah as well as Hamas are sure to support Tehran with attacks targeting their country. That may explain why lines are stretching to get gas masks and why offers for survival kits have flourished on the web.

Last week, Nahum Barnea, a columnist for the popular daily Yedioth Aharonot, accused Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Ehud Barak of secretly planning an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities by the end of the year. The public debate that followed did nothing to reassure Israelis.

For Israeli leaders, a military strike is one of many options to be used at the right time. "It is a possibility, but only if the context warrants it and international sanctions are inefficient," says Tsahi Hanegbi, former President of the powerful Foreign Affairs and Defense Commission at the Knesset. On Tuesday, Barak said his country "had yet to decide whether to launch a military operation against Iran" while saying he wasn't optimistic about the importance and efficiency of the international measures expected as a result of the IAEA report.

If Israel were to attack, it would need the support of the US because its own army would not be able to lead such a major war effort on its own. The Israeli army could hit several Iranian targets, but wouldn't be able to destroy all of Iran's facilities, let alone conduct a lengthy war during which Israel itself would risk destruction.

Single-minded preparation

Foreign Affairs Minister Silvan Shalom first got the international community's attention regarding the danger of a nuclear-armed Iran in 2003. Since then, Israel's military has been gearing up for the big day. Squadrons of F-15 and F-16 fighter-bombers were put together for that purpose. They train regularly to lead long-distance missions. In recent months, anti-bunker bombs were secretly bought from the United States. The arsenal of Jericho ballistic missiles capable of carrying a 750-kilo nuclear charge have been modernized and new spy-satellites were launched. As for the five dolphin submarines, they took part in secret drills with their foreign counterparts. The efficiency of Hetz missiles, which can intercept Iranian Shihab and Sejil missiles, was improved.

Many experts believe Israel's military threat is just a way of getting the international community to toughen its sanctions against Iran. But on the ground, the war between Iran and Israel has already started, albeit behind the scenes.

Between 2002 and 2010, Meir Dagan and the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad created a five-point plan to slow down the progress of Iran's nuclear industry, with the help of Western secret services, including the CIA. They disrupted underground supply routes, sabotaged part of the equipment acquired by Iran, launched computer attacks -- and also murdered or kidnapped scientists believed to be involved in building a bomb.

Some of these secret operations took place in Switzerland through a secret group led by Mossad's former director. Most of these actions were aimed at disrupting the computer centers of financial institutions through which Iranian funds were believed to be transiting.

Read the original article in French

Photo - I.D.F.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Geopolitics

Kyiv Reality Check: What Ukraine's Friends Say Out Loud — And Whisper To Each Other

Europe's foreign ministers traveled together to Kyiv yesterday to reaffirm their support for Ukraine. It is necessary after the first signs of "fatigue" in Western support, from a Polish about-face to the victory of a pro-Russian prime minister in Slovakia.

photo of Josep Borrell listening to Zelensky speak

EU's chief of foreign affairs Josep Borrell and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky during the EU-Ukraine meeting in Kyiv

Johanna Leguerre, EU foreign ministry via ZUMA
Pierre Haski

-Analysis-

PARIS — The symbolism is strong: for the first time ever, Europe's foreign ministers meet in a country outside the European Union. But it looks like a diplomatic ‘Coué’. The Coué method, named for a French psychologist, holds that a person tends to repeat a message to convince oneself as much as to convince others.

In Kyiv on Monday, the European foreign ministers solemnly reaffirmed their commitment to Ukraine, perhaps because it's suddenly no longer as obvious to them as to the rest of the world.

Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage.

Sign up to our free daily newsletter.

There has indeed been some hesitation as of late; and it was undoubtedly time for this display of unity, which has stood as one of the major diplomatic achievements since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Hungarian foreign minister was notably absent from the family photo, due to his "Putinophilia", and his Polish counterpart was officially ill, which happens to coincide with the recent Polish-Ukrainian quarrel. It's also a safe bet that, in a few weeks' time, the Slovakian minister could also be missing from such a gathering, following Sunday's election victory of the pro-Russian Robert Fico.

These nuances aside, there was a message of firmness in Kyiv, embodied by the bit of alliteration from German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who predicted that Europe that would soon go "from Lisbon to Luhansk" — Luhansk, in the Donbas region of Ukraine, currently annexed by Russia.

Keep reading...Show less

The latest