The U.S., Israel, and all the measures short of a war against Iran

Effort

The first part of my weekend column (with Aluf Benn) dealt with the renewed and enhanced efforts to confront and contain Iran. The situation in Iran and Syria is not yet a war, we wrote, although, as an administration official said this week, it is everything but a war. Today, we have more details on Israel's part in this effort. An Israeli coordinator will assist the United States in its efforts to boycott Iranian banking operations. According to an Israeli official, the Israeli coordinator will monitor the transfer of funds to Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other groups, both in Israel and the territories. "Enormous sums are being transferred and an organization is necessary to counter this," the source said.

Over the weekend, and after our column was printed, both the Washington Post and the New York Times revealed more details about this effort. "We're not looking for a fight with Iran," U.S. Undersecretary of State for policy and chief negotiator on Iranian issues, R. Nicholas Burns, said in an interview with the Times Friday evening, shortly after Mr. Bush had once again warned Iran to halt "killing our soldiers" and stop its drive for nuclear fuel.

According to the Post, Last fall Bush gave the military secret authorization to kill or capture members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, including members of a Guard unit known as the Quds Force, and any Iranian intelligence operatives suspected of arming or supporting Shiite militias in Iraq.

Strategy

More from our Haaretz column: Regional leaders bent the ear of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during her Middle East visit with their concerns about Iran's growing power. Some sounded even more frightened and worried than their Israeli counterparts.

Bush mentioned Iran five times in his State of the Union address on Tuesday, but only once in the nuclear context. That was no coincidence: The U.S. has decided to focus on overall Iranian activity, not just on the danger of a nuclear bomb. That is a source of even more concern for the "moderate" Arab states. The Saudis fear an Iranian-sponsored uprising by their own Shiite minority, not an Iranian nuclear missile strike on Riyadh. The states in the region interpret Iran's nuclear aspirations as a cover, to ward off a military threat, and allow them to advance "the revolution" through more conventional methods. The fear of physical annihilation, of the actual use of a nuclear bomb, is reserved for Israel alone.

Israel

The Iran issue has breathed new life into the strategic dialogue between Israel and the U.S. Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon initiated the dialogue six years ago. Since then there have been long breaks and no clear direction. The forum met this week in Israel, for the first time, at the Yitzhak Rabin Center for Israel Studies. Shaul Mofaz headed the Israeli delegation. The current transportation minister and former defense minister felt at home - he was finally able to go back to talking about strategic threats and the dangers to regional stability, rather than the new driving safety campaign. Officials from the Foreign Ministry, the Prime Minister's Bureau and the National Security Council also attended. Washington was represented by Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns and Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England.

Burns told the forum that both President George Bush's decision to dispatch a second aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf as well as American efforts to impose economic sanctions on Iran, send a clear signal to Tehran that the U.S. is serious.

After the wide-ranging dialogue ended, Burns and England met with Mossad chief Meir Dagan, who is coordinating diplomatic efforts against an Iranian bomb. The Mossad believes there are many "soft" options that can be used against Iran, such as sanctions and an economic stranglehold, and will give these approaches two years before beginning to consider alternatives.