Israel Can’t Afford to Confront Iran: Deputy Minister

by Mohammed Mar’i

RAMALLAH/JERUSALEM, 3 July 2007 — Israel’s armed forces lack sufficient funds to confront the perceived threat posed by arch foe Iran’s nuclear ambitions, an outgoing deputy Cabinet minister charged yesterday. “We need more funds than we receive currently to deal with this threat,” outgoing Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh told public radio.

“If the (international economic) sanctions (against Iran) were adopted more firmly and more quickly, we may not have needed to talk about other options.”

Stressing that Washington was leading the policy of sanctions against Tehran, Sneh said there was no “coordination” at an operational level between the Israeli and US militaries on Iran.

According to Sneh, allocations of millions of shekels (Israel’s currency) were still needed to complete the defensive and offensive projects of the Jewish state. “There are projects that aren’t progressing at the pace they should, and there are others that could already have been finished, but were cut back,” Sneh said.

Meanwhile, an Israeli court yesterday sentenced Mordechai Vanunu, who in 2004 completed an 18-year prison term for spilling nuclear secrets, to six more months behind bars after he violated a ban on speaking to foreigners. Israel has curbed Vanunu’s movements and personal contacts since he left jail, arguing that he could divulge new details on his past work at the Dimona nuclear reactor.

In another development, Israeli court proceedings against outgoing President Moshe Katsav for sex offenses risked further delay yesterday as the prosecution sought extra time to justify a plea bargain slammed as too lenient.

The state prosecution requested another two days to respond to a high court order to explain the controversial deal, which dropped two rape charges and allowed Katsav to escape possible jail time, before an indictment can be filed.

The high court initially demanded that Attorney General Menachem Mazuz make his explanations by yesterday, after women’s groups and the Movement for Quality Government filed an appeal, outraged by what it called an “amoral” deal. For nearly a year, the father of five has been the focus of the worst scandal ever to befall an Israeli leader, as women made a string of accusations, including rape, which could have seen him jailed for 16 years if convicted.

On Saturday, around 20,000 Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv demanding that the plea bargain be overturned and lambasting Mazuz, who earlier this year said he intended to file a rape indictment against Katsav.