One country threatened by nuclear weapons loses its credibility

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Israel can easily kill some of Iran’s leaders, that  by making them laugh to death. Iranian leaders must laugh their heads off when they react to the contradictory statements made in Israel about Iran’s nuclear ‘Red Line’.

Israel now finds itself in a most bizarre situation, as no two Israeli leaders seem to speak using the same voice when it comes to the facts surrounding Iran’s race to become a nuclear power. This situation has gone past the stage of ridiculous moving on towards stupidity. While conflicting statements are being made in Israel, Iran continues its sprint towards developing a nuclear bomb.

Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was quoted on Monday when he stated that Iran had not yet crossed the ‘red line’ he had set for its nuclear program. At the same time an assessment by a former Israeli intelligence chief indicated a situation contrary to that referred to by the Prime Minister.

Addressing the United Nations last September, Netanyahu drew a red line across a cartoon bomb to illustrate the point at which he said Iran will have amassed enough uranium at 20 percent fissile purity to fuel one nuclear bomb if enriched further. He stated back then that Iran could possibly reach that threshold by mid-2013.

Last week, Amos Yadlin, a former chief of Israeli military intelligence, told a security conference in Tel Aviv that “the Iranians have crossed the red line Netanyahu illustrated at the U.N. General Assembly”.

Without referring directly to Yadlin, Netanyahu stated that Iran’s nuclear activities remained short of his benchmark. “Iran is continuing with its nuclear program. It has yet to cross the red line I presented at the United Nations, but it is approaching it systematically,” he was quoted as saying in his broadcast remarks.

“It must not be allowed to cross it,” Netanyahu concluded.

The Islamic Republic of Iran continues to declare it is enriching uranium for peaceful energy and medical purposes only.

Israel, widely believed to be the Middle East’s only nuclear-armed power, has issued veiled warnings for years that it might attack Iran if international sanctions and big power diplomacy fail to curb what it regards as a drive by Tehran to develop atomic weapons.

Israel has long insisted on the need for a convincing military threat and setting clear lines beyond which Iran’s nuclear activity should not advance. It says this is the only way to persuade Iran to bow to international pressure by curbing enrichment activity and allowing unfettered U.N. inspections.

And if earlier statements made in Israel were not enough, former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday that Iran had yet to cross the ‘red line’ as defined by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when speaking in front of the UN.  According to Olmert, the Iranian nuclear program has not made any progress in years, and the extent of the threat has been exaggerated.

Speaking at the annual Jerusalem Post conference in New York, Olmert added that the Iranians should seriously consider the statements that were made by Israel that it would do all in its power to ensure that Iran did not reach nuclear capabilities.

Olmert went on to note that when top analysts told members of Israel’s cabinet that “in the year 2008, and at the latest 2009, the Iranians will have a nuclear capacity, we took it very seriously. Now, we are in the middle of 2013 – and they still don’t have it”.