9.09.2009

Bibi goes missing for a day, Israel declares dialogue pointless

Haaretz:

What did Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu do for close to 12 hours yesterday in a sensitive security compound somewhere in Israel? Only a handful of privileged individuals, a select group even within Netanyahu's office, know.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak did not join Netanyahu in the facility, but worked at his own office in Tel Aviv's Kirya defense compound for most of the day. It seems, therefore, that the prime minister's visit was not related to any kind of operational activity to be carried out by the defense apparatus. Yesterday morning Netanyahu embarked on what is described in his official schedule as a "military tour." The tour was supposed to end in late afternoon, but which ended up lasting until nearly 9 P.M. last night.

Rumors abound

The premier's absence raised rumors within the defense establishment that he had left on a classified visit abroad. After several hours in which questions on Netanyahu's whereabouts went unanswered, his bureau released a laconic press release indicating that "the prime minister's military secretary, Maj. Gen. Meir Kalifi, states that the prime minister has been at a defense facility in Israel since morning." The Prime Minister's Office did not release details on the visit, or on the nature of the so-called "defense facility." Even within Netanyahu's office, the group of officials familiar with the nature of his visit was exceedingly small. Along with Netanyahu and Kalifi, they also likely included National Security Adviser Uzi Arad.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1113072.html

Debka File: http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=6255

The second Israeli cabinet-level discussion in the last few days on the Iranian threat - nuclear and regional - took place Monday, Sept. 7, in the inner cabinet, on the heels of a recent security cabinet meeting which surveyed Israel military and homeland security preparations for a missile attack from four sources, Iran, Syria, the Lebanese Hizballah and the Palestinian Hamas in Gaza.

The Monday meeting was held behind closed doors but DEBKAfile's military sources report that speakers underscored the rapid tempo of the developing Iranian threat. Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu went on to pay an extended visit to Mossad headquarters for talks with its chief Meir Dagan and other officers.

Monday, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he was willing to discuss "global challenges" with US president Barack Obama but repeated his government's standing refusal to negotiate his country's "inalienable nuclear rights." This put the lid on the US president's policy of dialogue with Tehran on its nuclear program and rendered the European engagement initiative pointless.

Monday, too, the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog, Mohamed ElBaradei, said talks with the Islamic republic were at a "stalemate. He delivered a bleak account of Iran's nuclear compliance to a board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna.

Yet tougher UN sanctions are a diminishing prospect in the light of Russian and Chinese objections.

Saturday, Sept. 5, DEBKAfile reported the growing concern in security circles over the failure of the US, Israel and other international parties to put the brakes on Iran's fast-paced advance toward a nuclear weapon although Obama had been in office for nine months and Netanyahu sat down in the prime minister's office all of six months ago. Tehran seized this inaction for the biggest leap forward since its hidden nuclear program was launched.





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