Israel Early Elections And Attack Talk

UPI FILE

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for early parliamentary elections in his country.

At a press conference in Tel Aviv Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for early parliamentary elections in his country.

According to some analysts, Netanyahu wants to move forward with elections while his approval rating in the country is relatively good. He hopes to avoid allowing other Israeli parties to strengthen their platforms.

Some also suggest Netanyahu is worried about possible diplomatic retaliation if President Barack Obama is re-elected following the Israeli Prime Minister’s apparent support for Republican candidate Mitt Romney. The early Israeli elections could come as soon as January.

The report comes just after Foreign Policy magazine published a piece detailing American and Israeli consideration of a joint surgical strike on Iranian uranium enrichment facilities. The article’s author, David Rothkopf, quotes “a source close to the discussions,” writing:

Advocates for this approach argue that not only is it likely to be more politically palatable in the United States but, were it to be successful — meaning knocking out enrichment facilities, setting the Iranian nuclear program back many years, and doing so without civilian casualties — it would have region wide benefits. One advocate asserts it would have a ‘transformative outcome: saving Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, reanimating the peace process, securing the Gulf, sending an unequivocal message to Russia and China, and assuring American ascendancy in the region for a decade to come’.

…To get to buried Iranian facilities, such as the enrichment plant at Fordow, would require bunker-busting munitions on a scale that no Israeli plane is capable of delivering. The mission, therefore, must involve the United States, whether acting alone or in concert with the Israelis and others.