Israeli leaders planned to attack Iran in recent years, but held back due to the opinions of other government leaders and military leaders, The New York Times and Israeli media reported.
In a tape recording obtained by Israeli television Channel 2, former Defense Minister Ehud Barak reportedly said that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew up plans to attack between 2009 and 2010.
The Jerusalem Post reported that government leaders withdrew their support for the plan, leading it to fall flat.
The planned strikes were aimed at Iranian military facilities, The New York Times reported, adding that Netanyahu and Barak, who is also a former Israeli prime minister, approached the idea of striking in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
“In 2010, the military chief of staff said Israel lacked the ‘operational capability’; in 2011, two key ministers waffled at the last minute; and in 2012, the timing did not work out because of a joint United States-Israel military exercise and visit by the American defense secretary,” the news organization reported.
The Times said it spoke with Barak, who confirmed the authenticity of the audio.
Barak wanted to prevent the audio from being aired, pointing to military censorship, but the military then approved the material, according to the Jerusalem Post, which cited Channel 2.
CNN is reaching out to the parties involved and to the Israeli government for comment.
Deep distrust of Iran
Like Netanyahu, Barak had hardly a shred of trust in talks with Iran. In 2012, he told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that he would like to hold out hope but that he didn’t.
“The Iranians have a long tradition of deceiting and defying the whole world,” he said. “So we are a little bit skeptical.”
He did not trust the assurances of Iran’s Supreme Leader the Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that religious convictions forbid Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“It is the same Khamenei who scolded Gadhafi for giving up his nuclear program,” Barak said. He believes that Khamenei never gave an order to build a nuclear device because of fear of Israeli or American military action.
Barak was skeptical that sanctions on Iran were preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, but he would not talk publicly about the possibility of Israel carrying out strikes.
“I think that it should remain behind closed doors as a part of a vague understanding that there is a big stick in the bedroom,” he said. It should suffice for Iran to know that when Israel, America and others say that all options are on the table they mean it, he said.
Barak is a former military chief of staff who had a long and highly decorated military career. He later went into politics and also served as Israel’s foreign affairs minister.
