According to a senior administration official, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta believes there is a possibility that Israel could attack Iran this spring in an effort to dismantle its suspected nuclear weapons program. David Ignatius of the Washington Post reported that Panetta “believes there is strong likelihood that Israel will strike Iran in April, May or June – before Iran enters what Israelis described as a ‘zone of immunity’ to commence building a nuclear bomb.”
David Petraeus, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, noted in a Senate hearing on Tuesday that “Israel does see this possibility as an existential threat to their country, and I think that it is very important to keep that perspective in mind.” The possibility that Israel could strike Iran is currently a very sensitive issue. General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reported that it would be premature for the U.S. to consider a strike against Iran.
