Last update - 00:00 06/12/2006
The Israel Factor: The panel sees dwindling chance of forceful president on Iran
By Haaretz Staff
The eight panelists for The Israel Factor ranking of the candidates in the race for the White House believe that the next American president is more likely than before to act cautiously on the issue of Iran's nuclear ambitions, regardless of political persuasion.
On the question of whether the candidate was likely to take military action to prevent the Iranian development of atomic weapons (with 10 being most likely and 1 least likely), none of the candidates scored higher than 7.
Senator John McCain was awarded the most points, receiving an average score of 6.63. Of the five people who scored the highest for this question, only one was a Democrat - retired general Wesley Clark with 5.2.
When the same question was asked three months ago, however, the panel gave all five higher scores, believing that at the time, they were all more likely to use military might against Iran.
The panel of experts also believed that this month's five highest scoring candidates overall - former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and McCain for the Republicans and Senator Hillary Clinton and Governor Bill Richardson for the Democrats - were reluctant to link the Middle East peace process and a resolution of the Iranian nuclear program.
The three top scoring Republicans were also seen by the panel as less than likely to support talks between Damascus and Jerusalem at present, with each scoring 5 or lower, while the top two Democrats both scored 7 on this issue.
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