Several international crises are on hold as the world waits for the next U.S. president to take office.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Sunday details of what it said was an official foreign ministry document stating that Israel does not intend to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities in the near future. At the same time, an Israeli Knesset member, Isaac Ben-Israel, told the newspaper Maariv that incoming Prime Minister Tzipi Livni “believes that if Iran’s nuclear project is not stopped by the world, Israel will have to attack.” Ben-Israel also stated that Iran will need another two to three years to attain a crude nuclear device, and did not discuss how long it would take to develop a deliverable nuclear weapon (as opposed to a device that can be detonated in a controlled environment). Ben-Israel, a reserve major general, had been involved in planning the strike on the Iraqi reactor in 1981, was close to outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and does not tend to speak on these matters without authorization.