US chief of staff arrives in Israel
US chief of staff arrives in Israel | The Times of Israel.
Martin Dempsey to hold high-level talks with IDF commander and prime minister
US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey arrived in Israel on Monday for a series of meetings with IDF top brass, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon.
In what is his third visit to Israel, Dempsey will be the guest of IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz and will hold discussions on regional cooperation and strengthening military ties between Israel and the US.
Last week, Gen. Mark Welsh, the chief of staff of the US Air Force, completed a secret visit to Israel that was only reported after he had left the country. Welsh was in Israel August 4 to 8 as the guest of the commander of the Israeli Air Force, Maj.-Gen. Amir Eshel. During his visit, Welsh met with senior officers and defense personnel, including Gantz, and was hosted at air force bases throughout the country.
With at least some Lebanese Hezbollah forces tied down in the fighting in Syria, and the organization experiencing political blowback in Lebanon for its support of the Assad regime, the US may be concerned that Israeli leaders believe the cost of an Iran strike — especially in terms of rocket strikes on Israeli cities from across the border — has dropped.
Earlier this month, Netanyahu upped his rhetoric against Iran’s nuclear program, citing Iranian President Hasan Rouhani’s anti-Israel oratory as proof of his hawkish views.
“Two days ago, the president of Iran said that ‘Israel is a wound in the Muslim body.’ The president of Iran might have changed, but the regime’s intentions did not,” Netanyahu said at the time. “Iran intends to develop nuclear capabilities and nuclear weapons in order to annihilate the State of Israel, and that’s a danger not only for us or the Middle East, but for the whole world. We are all responsible for preventing it.”
A report by the US-based Institute for Science and International Security two weeks ago said that Iran could break out to a nuclear bomb by mid-2014 if it went ahead with a plan to install thousands of new centrifuges.
Last August, Dempsey demonstrated the gap between the Israeli and American sense of urgency over the Iranian nuclear program when he told a press conference in London that an Israeli strike would “clearly delay but probably not destroy Iran’s nuclear program. I don’t want to be complicit if they [Israel] choose to do it.”
He said that intelligence was inconclusive when it came to Iran’s intentions. An American-led international sanctions regime “could be undone if [Iran] was attacked prematurely,” he added.
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WarSclerotic 
August 12, 2013 at 7:48 PM
So, while everyone watching General Dempsey let’s play “what if”. What if Saudi Arabia figured it was time for the Sunni world to take on the Shiites and used some of the Pakistan nuclear bombs it reportedly purchased to blow up Iranian nuclear facilities, and then of course blame Israel. Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and Fatah would immediately attack Israel who would conveniently destroy much of the Shiite military structure. Saudi Arabia and friends would give Israel a tip of their old keffiyeh and takeover the southern Iranian oilfields.
Just trying to point out that sometimes life throws a curveball when you were waiting on a fastball.
August 12, 2013 at 10:03 PM
Very interesting idea!
But I think it is the other way around.
– The Iranians hate the Saudis because they have Mecca and Medina and are filthy rich Sunnis and the Saudis have bribed Putin not to sell arms to Assad. The Iranians realise they will not get trough Israel’s four layers of antimissile shields and will instead attack all the Saudi oilfields and cause economic chaos in the western world. This is what their goal is in order to hasten the coming of the 12:th Imam Mahdi. With Mecca and Medina in ruins the Muslims will have to convert to Shia and go to Qom instead
August 13, 2013 at 2:34 PM
When the 12th iman comes were going to tear him apart and drink his blood,and thats in the Norse chronicles,equily as comical,irans mincemeat there wont be anything left soon,the iranians cant hit anyone there are some big nasty surpizes in store for iran they wont have the resources to do that they will need everything they have to defend themselves just for a few hours but i am sure they will try
August 13, 2013 at 2:41 PM
The Iranians fully understand that Israel would never use a above ground nuke unless they were attacked first the kind of nukes Pakistan has are really not much use you need hundreds of them to make any real impact,
August 13, 2013 at 6:39 AM
Explain the real context in which the decisions of the Netanyahu government are made – the death of MAD
http://www.madisdead.blogspot.co.il/2013/08/explain-real-context-in-which-decisions.html