Senior defense officials ruled out an Israeli military attack on
Iran’s nuclear sites as early as five and a half years ago, telegrams
sent from the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv in 2005 and 2006 indicate. The
cables, which were revealed over the weekend, are among hundreds of
thousands shared exclusively with Haaretz by the WikiLeaks website.
In the first telegram, sent on December 2,
2005, American diplomats said their conversations with Israeli officials
indicate that there is no chance of a military attack being carried out
on Iran. A more detailed telegram was sent in January 2006, summing up a
meeting between U.S. Congressman Gary Ackerman (a Democrat for New
York ) and Dr. Ariel Levite, then deputy chief of Israel’s Atomic Energy
Commission.
“Levite
said most Israeli officials do not believe a military solution is
possible,” the telegram ran. “They believe Iran has learned from
Israel’s attack on Iraq’s Osirak reactor, and has dispersed the
components of its nuclear program throughout Iran, with some elements in
places that Israel does not know about.”
