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Last update - 07:24 08/11/2009
U.S. top brass: Nuclear Iran is existential threat to Israel
By Amir Oren, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Israeli army, Ehud Barak 

The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Michael Mullen, said last week in Washington that a nuclear Iran would pose an existential threat to Israel.

Mullen said he would prefer that the U.S. work diplomatically to keep the country from acquiring nuclear weapons, but hinted that should such efforts fail, the U.S. air force and navy could be put into action as well.

Ahead of Defense Minister Ehud Barak's visit to the Pentagon this week, Israeli military sources said they were satisfied with the progress in talks with their American counterparts over acquiring F-35 fighter jets. Israel will pay $135 million per jet if it buys 25, and $100 million if it buys 75.
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Meanwhile, Washington has retracted its opposition to installing Israeli-made systems on the jets. However, a disagreement over Israel's request for complete access to the planes' computer systems is yet to be resolved.

At a conference at the National Press Club, Mullen said he has spent a significant amount of time with his Israeli counterpart, IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, and that "it's very clear to me that a nuclear weapon in Iran is an existential threat to Israel," according to a transcript released by his office.

"There is no doubt in my mind that's how the Israelis feel," he said, adding, "Given that view, [and] their sense of both focus and urgency ... it is up front. It is at the top of their list."

Mullen has held frequent talks with Ashkenazi over the past two years. The most recent was last month in Normandy, France.

Ashkenazi, his deputy Maj. Gen. Benny Gantz, and Brig. Gen. Yossi Baidatz (head of the Military Intelligence research division), met last week with Adm. James Stavridis, the commander of U.S. European Command (EUCOM) and NATO supreme allied commander of Europe, while Stavridis visited Israel with several of his top officers.

Israel is within EUCOM's area of responsibility, but lately ties have grown tighter between Israel and U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which is responsible for Iran.

Hinting at differences in perceptions between the administrations in Washington and Jerusalem, Mullen said Iran's nuclear program appears "to be the No. 1 priority for Israel, and certainly it's a very high priority for us."

Mullen added that a nuclear Iran would undermine the stability of a region that is already highly unstable, and that he supports U.S. President Barack Obama's view that "the goal is to make sure that they don't get a nuclear weapon. At the same time, a strike on Iran, getting into a conflict with Iran, I think would also be incredibly destabilizing."
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  1.   "THE U.S. AIR FORCE AND NAVY... 05:17  |  EL 08/11/09
  2.   Iran`s Caustic Caliphate Cocktail Awaiting Last Potent Ingredient 05:40  |  Lavi 08/11/09
  3.   lavi 1 05:53  |  potobac 08/11/09
  4.   Israeli nukes are an existential threat to Iran. 06:02  |  Lou Medel 08/11/09
  5.   the US military DO NOT take their orders from Gen. George Soros ! 06:24  |  great expectations 08/11/09
  6.   Is screwing with the US military a good idea? 08:31  |  BBSNews 08/11/09
  7.   #3 Potobac: Islam`s Insecurity With The Khutzpa Of A ... 12:07  |  Lavi 08/11/09
  8.   #.6.BBSNews. 13:34  |  Stephen. 08/11/09
  9.   Iran not a threat to U.S. 16:31  |  Ray Gordon 08/11/09
  10.   And the US Sparta`s nukes aren`t an existential threat to Iran? 17:04  |  jim the mechanic 08/11/09
  11.   Existential threat - howso? 17:09  |  TimothyL 08/11/09
  12.   Actually Israel is on the front line defending Western civilizati 17:40  |  Stephen in New York 08/11/09
  13.   Stephan # 12 in NY 18:00  |  Elmer 08/11/09
  14.   Spin Cycle Reporting 18:21  |  Mark Lincoln 08/11/09
  15.   Stephen in New York - Israel is busy defending .. 18:22  |  CJ 08/11/09
  16.   having their own Chernobyl - the only thing that would save Iran 18:47  |  great expectations 08/11/09
  17.   Nuclear Iran 19:00  |  Paul Uri 08/11/09
  18.   Well, this guy is off the reservation 19:16  |  Paul Freedman 08/11/09
  19.   Shia islamists can`t get over having lost Makkah to the Sunni 19:24  |  great expectations 08/11/09
  20.   Stephen in NY 20:41  |  Persian Kitty 08/11/09
  21.   Western civilization, Ms. Kitty. 21:29  |  Stephen in New York 08/11/09
  22.   #21. Stephen and Kitty. 22:19  |  Stephen. 08/11/09
  23.   Mr. Sttephen in NY 22:58  |  Persian Kitty 08/11/09
  24.   Stephen in New York # 21 re Western civilization 00:00  |  American in NY 09/11/09
  25.   You assume too much, Ms. Kitty 00:44  |  Stephen in New York 09/11/09
  26.   Ms Kitty, you assume to much about me 02:12  |  Stephen in New York 09/11/09
  27.   #12, Stephen in New York... 18:59  |  Silvienne 09/11/09
  28.   TO NO 21 19:42  |  DANNY 09/11/09
  29.   Silvienne, I oppose the settler movement in the West Bank, but su 20:49  |  Stephen in New York 09/11/09
  30.   Israel`s nuckes are existential threat to the entire Middle East. 06:41  |  Parvin Darabi 10/11/09
  31.   The US AIR FORCE -to EL 19:03  |  Daniel 14/11/09
  32.   lou medel 4 15:11  |  potobac 15/11/09
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