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September 27, 2012

Israeli Foreign Ministry Calls for More Sanctions on Iran

By ISABEL KERSHNER

JERUSALEM — An internal report prepared by Israel’s Foreign Ministry calls for an additional round of international sanctions against Iran, an Israeli official confirmed on Thursday, in what appeared to be a rare Israeli acknowledgment that there might still be time to try to stop the Iranian nuclear program by means other than military action.

Details of the report were leaked to Haaretz and were published on Thursday morning as the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, was on his way to New York to address the United Nations General Assembly. An Israeli official who is familiar with the report, but was not authorized to speak about it to it publicly, confirmed the points that appeared in Haaretz.

The Foreign Ministry report states that the international sanctions already imposed on Iran are having a deep effect on the country’s economy, according to the official, and may, according to some assessments, also be affecting the stability of the Iranian government. But the sanctions have not yet persuaded the government in Tehran to suspend its nuclear drive. Therefore, the report concludes that “another round of sanctions is needed,” the official said.

The question of how to deal with Iran’s nuclear drive has become an acute source of tension between Mr. Netanyahu and the Obama administration. Israel views a nuclear Iran as an existential threat. Mr. Netanyahu has argued that sanctions have not worked and that time is running out to stop Iran from achieving a nuclear military capability.

President Obama opposes military action at this point, saying that there is still “time and space” to resolve the issue through diplomacy and pledging that the United States will do what it must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Iran insists that its nuclear program is for purely civilian purposes.

Mr. Obama has also rejected Mr. Netanyahu’s demands to set clear “red lines” for Iran.

But there appears to be an effort by Israeli officials to smooth relations with Washington and lower the tone of the public argument.

“I think that this whole matter of red lines should be made, but not publicly,” Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, told Israel Radio on Thursday. “And I think that at the moment, the talks between us and the Americans, which are excellent, are precisely about this.”

Mr. Ayalon added: “We are constantly coming closer in our positions, and this is because, among other reasons, Iranian activity continues without a break. And the more the Iranians defy the entire world, this coming closer will ultimately reach a point that we are united in our positions.”

The timing of the leak to Haaretz raised questions among Israelis. It was unclear whether the Foreign Ministry, led by Avigdor Lieberman, was sending a pointed message of its own to counter the usually belligerent tone of Mr. Netanyahu, or whether the leak was coordinated with the prime minister and intended to send a more conciliatory message from Israel to Washington.

Mr. Netanyahu called for economic sanctions against Iran to be intensified at a meeting with the Italian foreign minister earlier this month.

Citing an Israeli Foreign Ministry official, Haaretz said Iran had suffered a 50 percent decline in its oil exports as a result of sanctions by the European Union and other countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and South Korea. As a result, the country’s oil revenues have declined by $40 billion since the beginning the year, it said.

Sanctions on the Iranian central bank have hampered the government’s access to its foreign currency reserves and prices of basic necessities have risen sharply, it added. Haaretz said the internal Israeli report was based partly on assessments provided by countries that maintain embassies in Tehran.

But at the same time on Thursday, Israel’s defense minister, Ehud Barak, underlined Israel’s readiness to act militarily if faced with no alternative, and reiterated the Israeli doctrine of self-reliance when it comes to national security.

Speaking at a memorial ceremony for the soldiers who fell in the 1973 Yom Kippur war, Mr. Barak said the clear message to be learned on this anniversary was “not to be captivated by false hopes, aspirations or wishes.”

“In the ultimate test, we can rely only on ourselves,” he said.

Mr. Barak added that it was the government’s responsibility to do everything possible to “break the circle of hostility” without resorting to war, but that if left with no choice, Israel was ready to fight any battle demanded of it “even at a painful price.”
- posted by Max Biesecker