The Israelis are very worried about Iran. And the Israelis are the major force in the U.S. pushing Washington to confront Iran. As was the case with Iraq just a few years ago, partly it is a matter of what “excuse” to use and how to mold public opinion to support military action.

Yesterday, an Israeli-connected news agency reported on a Jordanian newspaper story that for the first time linked the recent Jerusalem market bombing to Iran. That report follows below. One important caveat: as for “disinformation” mentioned in the story, the greatest likelihood is that the Israelis are the ones involved in disinformation as they continue to contemplate attacking Iran themselves while attempting to push Washington into a confrontation with Tehran.

The Israeli goal, shared by many in the U.S., is very simple: to destroy Iran’s military power and set back its nuclear and missile programs by a decade — as was the case with Israel’s attack against the Iraqi Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981.

So just what are the Israelis so worried about?

They are worried that so far the Iranians have not been infiltrated and co-opted — as has been successfully done with most of the Arab “client-regimes”, most especially the Jordanians, the Saudis, and the Egyptians.

They are worried that the Iranians remain a source of inspiration, as well as funds and arms, for other nationalist and Islamic oriented forces in the region.

They are worried that the Iranians continue to supply weapons to the Hizballah and others to counter the U.S. and Israeli military dominance in the region.

They are worried about the talk of, and small steps toward, a joint Syrian, Iranian, Iraqi alliance against Israel; especially troubling should there be revolution in any of the major countries Israel now relies on — Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, as well as Jordan.

And at the top of the list they are worried that within the next few years Iran will develop nuclear weapons and missiles to deliver them.

It should be remembered that last year the well-respected Janes Military Review outlined that among the four most likely scenarios for a new Middle East war is a surprise Israeli strike (coordinated with the U.S. of course) against the Iran.

It should be noted, in closing, that there are some analysts who suggest neither the Israelis nor the Americans are really ready for a major confrontation with Iran; and in fact that there is hope to avoid it fearing its possible repercussions throughout the Muslim world. Even so, these analysts suggest, Washington and Tel Aviv hold open the possibility of such a confrontation as a way of “deterring” the Iranians from helping those in the region who are attaching the American presence in the Gulf and the on-going Israeli occupation of the Palestinians.

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