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Defense official: Mofaz remark on Iran strike is not state policy
By Haaretz Service and News Agencies
Tags: Iran, Shaul Mofaz 

Defense officials and political pundits rounded on Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz on Sunday, two days after he called an Israeli attack on Iran "unavoidable" due to the lack of progress on curbing its nuclear program.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office on Sunday distanced itself from the remark. Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev said the prime minister stated Israel's policy clearly last week during a trip to Washington.

At a briefing with reporters, Olmert called for tighter international sanctions while warning that a more effective solution led by the United States was drawing closer.
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Mofaz said in a newspaper interview on Friday that "if Iran continues with its program for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack it. The sanctions are ineffective. Attacking Iran, in order to stop its nuclear plans, will be unavoidable."

One senior defense official said Sunday that Mofaz's remarks "did not reflect policy" and "risked making it even harder for Israel to persuade more countries to step up their sanctions against Iran."

Meanwhile, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai accused Mofaz, a former military chief who is now a top challenger to the embattled Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in the Kadima party, of using the comment to further his campaign for party primaries.

"Turning one of the most strategic security issues into a political game, using it for the internal purposes of a would-be campaign in Kadima, is something that must not be done," Vilnai told Israel Radio.

Mofaz's remarks helped drive up oil prices by nearly 9 percent to a record $139 a barrel on Friday and drew a circumspect response from Washington, which has championed UN sanctions against Iran while hinting that force could be a last resort.

The comments also drew a storm of international criticism and prompted Iran to lodge a complaint with the United Nations.

Asked about the flurry of criticism, Mofaz aide Talia Somech said he had spoken "out of his more than 40-year-long commitment to the national security of Israel."

"We would like his statements to be taken at face value, and not be given alternative interpretations," she told Reuters.

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohammed ElBaradei, on Saturday rebuked Mofaz's comment in an interview with the German newspaper Der Spiegel.

"With unilateral military actions, countries are undermining international agreements, and we are at a historic turning point," the nuclear watchdog chief said.

Iran meanwhile demanded action from the UN Security Council in a letter submitted Saturday by Iranian UN Ambassador Mohammed Khazaee.

"Such a dangerous threat against a sovereign state and a member of the United Nations constitutes a manifest violation of international law and contravenes the most fundamental principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and, thus, requires a resolute and clear response on the part of the United Nations, particularly the Security Council," Khazaee's letter to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, dated June 6, said.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Friday that the United States was committed to solving the Iranian nuclear threat through diplomatic multilateral means, in a response to Mofaz's statements Friday.

"I understand that Israel is very concerned about their future and their safety when they have a neighbor in their region - Iran - that says they want to wipe them off the map," Perino told reporters. "We are trying to solve this diplomatically," she explained.

Asked whether the United States was keeping military options open as a last resort with Iran, she said U.S. President George W. Bush had always said he "would never take any options off the table" but that Washington was pursuing multilateral diplomacy.

Related articles:
  • IAEA slams Mofaz remark that attack on Iran seems 'unavoidable'
  • ANALYSIS / Mofaz's Iran comments too high a price for party politics
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      1.   Mofaz`s remark 11:13  |  Millicent 08/06/08
      2.   Paper tigers 11:41  |  Frank 08/06/08
      3.   mofaz 11:57  |  daniel yefet 08/06/08
      4.   Olmert has said the same thing but weasel worded 12:04  |  Natallie Durson 08/06/08
      5.   Mofaz is a typical Middle Eastern polititian 12:05  |  Inyaki 08/06/08
      6.   TO NO 1. 12:34  |  DANNY. 08/06/08
      7.   Iran Constantly Talks About Destroying Israel 13:16  |  Yishai Kohen 08/06/08
      8.   Iran 13:18  |  Joe 08/06/08
      9.   Two weeks on, same idiotic fantasies from Israel 15:06  |  Clickfool 08/06/08
      10.   Mofaz makes a statement... 15:31  |  David Nigel Braham 08/06/08
      11.   Not so funny..... 16:04  |  William 08/06/08
      12.   natalie durson and clickfool 16:05  |  mike 08/06/08
      13.   Thank you Mofaz!!!! 16:35  |  D 08/06/08
      14.   Mofaz comments only helps Hizbullah 16:35  |  Peter 08/06/08
      15.   Click / Durson .. are you guys married ? 16:43  |  Ja Ja 08/06/08
      16.   talk, talk, talk. 16:49  |  Fred Michaelsberg 08/06/08
      17.   Mofaz remarks 16:52  |  Steve Gure 08/06/08
      18.   Israel should move 16:57  |  George 08/06/08
      19.   Can anyone explain this...?! 17:10  |  Esther 08/06/08
      20.   Mofaz Will Resonate With Israeli Rednecks 17:18  |  Dave 08/06/08
      21.   all shd thank him for his honesty. 17:26  |  frenz 08/06/08
      22.   Expotential... 17:41  |  Esther 08/06/08
      23.   #6 Danny 18:06  |  Space 08/06/08
      24.   Ja Ja, Clicky was in LA for a conference with Natalie 18:49  |  royzer 08/06/08
      25.   does mofaz have oil shares? 18:54  |  odles 08/06/08
      26.   Strange that Iran can threaten but Israel can not...... 19:04  |  Onlooker 08/06/08
      27.   Unfit for public office 19:26  |  Yonatan 08/06/08
      28.   To Frenz:Yes,i doubt. 20:17  |  Mateo 08/06/08
      29.   Mofaz forced US/allies to speak AGAINST Israeli attacks 20:23  |  Pablo B 08/06/08
      30.   #24 onlooker - good guys can`t do what bad guys do... 20:28  |  Pablo B 08/06/08
      31.   If Mofaz knows what he is talking about ... 20:30  |  zeev 08/06/08
      32.   For Royzer # 22 20:36  |  Clickfool 08/06/08
      33.   For David Nigel Braham # 10 20:39  |  Clickfool 08/06/08
      34.   Israel Survival 20:53  |  Steve 08/06/08
      35.   iranian petrol to be seized for reparations 21:19  |  frenz 08/06/08
      36.   #32 Clickfool and Natalie Durson 22:07  |  H 08/06/08
      37.   Great Public Rebuke Of Reckless Mofaz 23:05  |  Rich 08/06/08
      38.   For Steve # 34 23:10  |  Clickfool 08/06/08
      39.   to Steve #34 23:34  |  zeev 08/06/08
      40.   Clickfool I`ll pay for another two weeks. 00:08  |  H 09/06/08
      41.   hey ya`ll the small difference 01:53  |  Tarzan 09/06/08
      42.   clickfool`s remark 02:28  |  Frank 09/06/08
      43.   to Steve #34 03:26  |  zeev 09/06/08
      44.   to steve#34 06:39  |  farrokh 09/06/08
      45.   Israel must seek diplomatic not military solution 07:27  |  Mark 09/06/08
      46.   Mofaz remark and Nuri Al-Maliki`s visit to Iran. 08:24  |  Maureen Ann 09/06/08
      47.   Who can argue with Clickfool`s #9 - see below 08:32  |  S 09/06/08
      48.   For H # 40 09:56  |  Clickfool 09/06/08
      49.   Frank #42 12:21  |  S 09/06/08
      50.   Re S #47 12:52  |  Esther 09/06/08
      51.   Think of the oil prices 14:19  |  Truth 09/06/08
      52.   How unbecoming of Matan!! 14:39  |  Buzaglow 09/06/08
      53.   Mofas to be become a none person of the past ! ! ! 16:18  |  H.H.M 09/06/08
      54.   Esther #50 16:21  |  S 09/06/08
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