Shaath: Netanyahu Will Have to Change. Israeli opposition leader accuses Netanyahu of trying to wag the dog. Two additions to Nima Shirazi’s inventory of Israeli efforts to push an American war with Iran.
As Nima notes, the mainstream US press is not covering this stuff. Simply amazing. First, from the Times of Israel, a report that Israel with David Axelrod is trying to broker a political commitment from Obama to attack Iran by next June. American and Israeli officials are working to arrange a meeting between US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at which the White House will assure Israel that the US will use force to stop Iran’s nuclear weapons drive by next June at the latest if the Islamic Republic has not halted its program by then, Israel’s Channel 10 news reported on Tuesday night.The meeting will take place in New York or Washington at the end of September or the very beginning of October, the report said.
Philip Weiss is Founder and Co-Editor of Mondoweiss.net. Mofaz slams Netanyahu's Iran saber rattling. "You are headed for a rash confrontation at an unnecessary cost while abandoning the home front," opposition leader Kadima chairman Shaul Mofaz said at the Knesset dais, in response to remarks by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and talk about an attack on Iran.
"Over the past few months, Israel has waged an extensive and relentless PR campaign with the sole objective of preparing the ground for a premature military adventure. " Mofaz continued, "This PR campaign has deeply penetrated the 'zone of immunity' of our national security, threatens to weaken our deterrence, and our relations with our best friends. Mr. prime minister, you want a crude, rude, unprecedented, reckless, and risky intervention in the US elections. Tell us who you serve and for what? Why are you putting your hand deep into the ballot boxes of the American electorate? "It isn't the defense chiefs who are covering their asses for the next investigative commission. "Mr. prime minister, you're creating panic. Comments. U.S. Reduces Troops Involved in Joint Military Exercise with Israel. Seven months ago, Israel and the U.S. postponed a massive joint military exercise that was originally set to go forward just as concerns were brimming that Israel would launch a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The exercise was rescheduled for late October and appears likely to go forward on the cusp of the U.S. presidential election. But it won’t be nearly the same exercise. Well-placed sources in both countries have told TIME that Washington has greatly reduced the scale of U.S. participation, slashing by more than two-thirds the number of American troops going to Israel and reducing both the number and potency of missile-interception systems at the core of the joint exercise.
(PHOTOS: The Ultra-Holy City of Jerusalem) “Basically what the Americans are saying is, ‘We don’t trust you,’” a senior Israeli military official says. The reductions are striking. (MORE: Will Iran’s Third-World Jamboree Hasten an Israeli Attack? (VIDEO: 10 Questions for Shimon Peres)
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