RAMALLAH, West Bank, 16 December 2007 — Israeli Public Security Minister Avi Dichter yesterday criticized the United States over its recent National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran’s nuclear program saying that “American misconception concerning Iran’s nuclear weapons, which is liable to lead to a regional Yom Kippur (the October 1973 War) where Israel will be among the countries that are threatened.”
Dichter bemoaned what he views as Israel’s inability to impress upon Washington just how imminent the threat of Iranian nuclear weapons is. “The softened intelligence report proves that Israel failed to provide the Americans with the whole picture concerning the Iranian nuclear threat,” the Israeli Radio cited him saying.
He said the report does not reflect the severity of the Iranian threat and urged Israel and other countries to supply the US with new information and intelligence assessments. “We have to hope that the US will know to correct this. Israel and other states must help in any way including providing intelligence material so as to fix this miscalculation.”
“A misconception by the world’s leading superpower is not just an internal American occurrence,” Dichter said. “This has to bother Israel and many other countries.” However, the public security minister went on to say the US was a “powerful country” that conducts its affairs in a “logical manner” and, therefore, if Israel manages to convince it that Iran has not stopped its nuclear weapons program, this will have a major influence on the Americans.
Dichter added that the NIE’s conclusions are also likely to impact the dynamics of negotiations with the Palestinians. “The US has been authorized to be the arbiter that determines whether the Palestinians are fulfilling their road map obligations on all matters relating to combating terrorism,” the public security minister said.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Hamas Movement yesterday held the security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas responsible for the death of Ma’zouz Radwan, 55, after they broke forcibly into his house in the West Bank city of Qalqilya and kidnapped his son, who is one of the movement’s supporters in the city.
Hamas quoted Ma’zouz’s family saying that Abbas’ security forces savagely stormed their house early yesterday and rounded up their son Mohamed.
According to Hamas statement, Mazouz, who was suffering from hypertension and diabetes, followed the security forces in an attempt to rid his son of them, they cursed and pushed him, and fired one bullet between his feet to drive him off; the man suffered a brain stroke and dropped unconscious on the ground while bleeding profusely from his nose, but he died later while being transferred to hospital.
