Did Obama really threaten to shoot down Israeli jets if they attack Iran?

DavidRamsay99

A fascinating story in the Israeli press:

According to Al-Jarida, the Netanyahu government took the decision to strike Iran some time in 2014 soon after Israel had discovered the United States and Iran had been involved in secret talks over Iran’s nuclear program and were about to sign an agreement in that regard behind Israel's back.

The report claimed that an unnamed Israeli minister who has good ties with the US administration revealed the attack plan to Secretary of State John Kerry, and that Obama then threatened to shoot down the Israeli jets before they could reach their targets in Iran.

Al-Jarida quoted "well-placed" sources as saying that Netanyahu, along with Minister of Defense Moshe Yaalon, and then-Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, had decided to carry out airstrikes against Iran's nuclear program after consultations with top security commanders.

According to the report, “Netanyahu and his commanders agreed after four nights of deliberations to task the Israeli army's chief of staff, Benny Gantz, to prepare a qualitative operation against Iran's nuclear program. In addition, Netanyahu and his ministers decided to do whatever they could do to thwart a possible agreement between Iran and the White House because such an agreement is, allegedly, a threat to Israel's security.”

The sources added that Gantz and his commanders prepared the requested plan and that Israeli fighter jets trained for several weeks in order to make sure the plans would work successfully. Israeli fighter jets reportedly even carried out experimental flights in Iran's airspace after they managed to break through radars.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/191966#.VPN_i_msUVV

Israel/US tensions are nothing new.

During the 1967 Arab Israeli War a US spy ship USS Liberty was strafed by Israeli aircraft because it was intercepting military communications which were harmful to their ongoing military operations against Egypt.

After the 1972 murders of Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists, the Israeli Mossad sent teams of assassins to kill senior members of Palestinian terrorist groups in Europe. American intelligence agencies keen not to alienate U.S NATO alliances and Arab friends hostile to Israel sought to frustrate Israeli efforts.

In 1981 Israeli jets bombed the French built nuclear reactor at Osirak in Iraq to prevent Saddam Hussein's government from using it to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons production. At the time the US and France and NATO allies supported Saddam who was then at war with Iran. The incident resulted in frosty relations with the US for years.

In the 1991 Gulf War when Saddam Hussein fired Scud missiles at Israel, the Bush administration struggled to prevent Israel from attacking Iraq. Bush threatened to shoot down Israeli planes if they did so. At the time the US and UK were in alliance with Syria and Saudi Arabia against Iraq and Saddam hoped that Israeli intervention provoked by Scud attacks would divide the US led alliance.

At present Iran supports the Shia led Iraqi government, supports the Assad regime in Syria and the Hezbollah regime in Southern Lebanon while more recently pro-Iranian Shia forces in Yemen have launched a successful coup which overthrew the Sunni led government.

Israel believes that years of fruitless talks with Iran by the US has done nothing to delay Iran's quest to acquire nuclear weapons with which to threaten and attack Israel. Netanyahu has vowed to use military force to prevent that happening.

However is Obama playing good cop bad cop with Iran? Israeli jets would have little difficulty against the hopelessly outdated Iranian air forces and air defenses and would soon obliterate the Iranian nuclear sites. By pretending to scold Israel is he trying to win over the Iranians to making a deal?
The Americans themselves have more than enough airpower and special forces available to take out Iran's nuclear sites themselves.

Manic Moran

No way of knowing, really.

Just because the two countries are allies doesn't mean that their interests always coincide. If it was really important to American foreign policy to deal with Iran diplomatically, then yes, I think they would have intercepted Israeli aircraft if they had come into their area of responsibility.

That said, if the Israelis had flown over countries the US isn't allows to shoot them down over (eg Saudi), then I don't see how the US would have done it.

riffmongous

Don't forget that Iran and America are also now essentially allies in the fight against IS in Iraq, I was just reading today on the BBC an article about the important role a Revolutionary Guard General is playing in organising the Iraqi forces

ChicagoJoe

riffmongous wrote: »

Don't forget that Iran and America are also now essentially allies in the fight against IS in Iraq, I was just reading today on the BBC an article about the important role a Revolutionary Guard General is playing in organising the Iraqi forces

Interesting, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. But I suppose if Stalin could be regarded as an allie by the US and UK in WW2......

Manach

My understanding, from reading other discussion forums, that while the actual threat might not be explicitly made that the Israelis believe that should a threat could easily have been made. That and the cool reception given to the Israeli PM by sections of the US political community make for some interesting times in that relationship.

Madd Finn

And then arch American fruit cake John Bolton goes and writes an op-ed in the New York Times suggesting the US should bomb Iran.


Is this all good old posturing and sabre rattling just to put pressure on Iran to do a deal? Mind you, Bolton playing bad cop in collusion with Obama's good cop? Can't see it. I think the idiot is actually sincere in what he says.

Brian?

Madd Finn wrote: »

And then arch American fruit cake John Bolton goes and writes an op-ed in the New York Times suggesting the US should bomb Iran.


Is this all good old posturing and sabre rattling just to put pressure on Iran to do a deal? Mind you, Bolton playing bad cop in collusion with Obama's good cop? Can't see it. I think the idiot is actually sincere in what he says.

Bolton is 100% sincere. He's an über chicken hawk.

Madd Finn

Apparently he wrote a similar piece in the Wall Street Journal years ago, but this time criticising the Bush administration for their lily-livered attitude to Iran.

At least he's a consistent nutcase.

Amerika

Brian? wrote: »

Bolton is 100% sincere. He's an über chicken hawk.

I remember when Reagan was called a chicken hawk. Yet he worked tirelessly to try and abolish nuclear weapons in order to rid the world of the nuclear threat. Initially he built up the program to gain nuclear superiority in order to provide greater military and political leverage with the Soviets. Then he went about greatly reducing the worlds Nuke stockpiles with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces agreement and established the foundation for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

Might be something to that negotiate from a position of strength philosophy... Unlike the current US posture where we won’t stop our enemies, nor protect our allies, which will only result in a proliferation of nuclear weapons in the worst parts of the world. IMO it’s not the likes of Bolton we have to worry about, it’s the Nobel Peace Prize winner Obama that should scare the hell out of everyone.

edward2222

Its sad to know that the US is in the center of every war,
while focusing on the ISIS annihilation,
Russians are also making their move...

Anyone of you guys here heard the possible world war III?

edward2222

ChicagoJoe wrote: »

Interesting, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. But I suppose if Stalin could be regarded as an allie by the US and UK in WW2......

But for me, this will just make things complicated.