THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Benjamin Netanyahu has triggered fresh speculation that he could authorise military action against Iran by declaring that a unilateral Israeli strike would not cause an irreparable rupture in relations with the United States.
The Israeli prime minister countered domestic critics who have argued that an attack would antagonise the Jewish state's most powerful patron by pointing to predecessors who had defied Washington without doing long-term damage. The Six Day War of 1967, the Suez Crisis of 1956 and the bombardment of an Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981 were all launched in opposition to US wishes.
In his first public comments since returning from a tense encounter with President Barack Obama at the White House this week, Mr Netanyahu yielded few clues over his intentions with regards to Iran, but again hinted that his patience with diplomacy was waning.
"We're not standing with a stopwatch in hand," he said in an interview with Israeli television to be broadcast on Saturday evening. "It's not a matter of days or weeks, but also not years. The result must be the removal of the threat of nuclear weapons in Iran's hands." » | Adrian Blomfield | Jerusalem | Friday, March 09, 2012