Israel will attack Iran if international diplomacy fails to rein in Tehran’s nuclear program, Shaul Mofaz said.
“If Iran presses ahead with its plan to develop nuclear weapons, we will attack it. The window of opportunity is closing,” the Israeli transportation minister, a former defense chief, told Yediot Acharonot on Friday. “The sanctions are not effective. To stop the Iranian nuclear program, an attack is inevitable.”
The remarks were the most overt threat yet by a member of the Israeli government, which, like the Bush administration, has until now only hinted at military force as a last resort for denying Iran the means to make a nuclear bomb.
Mofaz could have an ulterior motive for his saber-rattling: political prestige. Mofaz is among members of the ruling Kadima Party who have declared their intention to run to succeed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert should he be forced to step down due to a corruption scandal.
