WHY ISRAELIS ARE AFRAID
Why Israelis are afraid — very afraid - By Yossi Klein Halevi & Michael B. Oren The Jewish State's worst nightmare http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | The first reports from military intelligence about an Iranian nuclear program reached the desk of Yitzhak Rabin shortly after he became prime minister in May 1992. Rabin's conclusion was unequivocal: Only a nuclear Iran, he told aides, could pose an existential threat to which Israel would have no credible response. But, when he tried to warn the Clinton administration, he met with incredulity. The CIA's assessment — which wouldn't change until 1998 — was that Iran's nuclear program was civilian, not military. Israeli security officials felt that the CIA's judgment was influenced by internal U.S. politics and privately referred to the agency as the "cpia" — "P" for "politicized." The indifference in Washington helped persuade Rabin that Israel needed to begin preparing for an eve