ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's uncompromising speech to a pro-Israel lobby in Washington has persuaded the public back home that war with Iran is possible.
Netanyahu evoked the horrors of the Holocaust, quoting a 1944 letter where the US rejected a request by Jewish leaders to bomb the Nazi death camp, Auschwitz. His message was clear: Israel cannot rely on others to defend its people.
"As prime minister of Israel, I will never let my people live in the shadow of annihilation," he told the influential pro-Israel lobby AIPAC on Monday after meeting US President Barak Obama.
"We have waited for diplomacy to work, we have waited for sanctions to work. We cannot afford to wait much longer."
The words resonated in Israel, with analysts, commentators and former military officers seeing a distinct sharpening of tone towards Tehran, which itself has called for the destruction of the state of Israel.
"The pistol isn't only loaded, but the safety catch has been released," Uzi Dayan, a former general and national security adviser, told Israel Radio.
Israel is adamant it will not let Iran build an atomic bomb and has been pushing Washington to pile pressure on Tehran to force it to abandon its nuclear programme. The Jewish state is believed to be the only nuclear power in the region.
Iran says its programme is for civilian purposes, but few in the West believe this, with the European Union and US applying increasingly severe economic sanctions to force Tehran to halt its uranium enrichment drive and return to talks.
Israeli experts, including Dayan, say sanctions will only work if there is a credible military threat behind them.
This has led sceptics to believe that the accompanying rhetoric is just for show, but the language has reached such a peak that Netanyahu will lose all credibility at home if it proves to be hot air.
The US president has appealed for sanctions to be given more time and although Washington agrees with Israel that it is unacceptable for Iran to get a nuclear weapon, the terminology used by Obama and Netanyahu this week was different.
While Obama talked of preventing Iran from "obtaining" a bomb, Netanyahu spoke about preventing it from "developing" one.
Officials say this means Israel wants to see Iran deprived of the various jigsaw pieces needed when manufacturing a bomb.
Washington, by contrast, would only move if it saw Tehran actively trying to put the pieces together.
Monday's speech represented Netanyahu's clearest endorsement of this doctrine since taking office in 2009, but critics said he still had to convince a sceptical public of the need for war.
An opinion poll published last week said just 19% of Israelis thought their nation should attack Iran, even if they did not first get the support of Washington.
Many Israelis fret the country is not prepared for conflict, with analysts predicting it could be hit with a barrage of missiles from Iran and its allies, such as Hizbollah in Lebanon.
Curiously, just hours after Netanyahu spoke, Israel's Civil Defence Minister Matan Vilnai issued a message via SMS.
"Israel has the capability of intercepting missiles coming at it from any place on earth... Every citizen knows the requirement to be prepared for any emergency situation in the best possible way."
Netanyahu's Iran speech resonates well with Israelis
ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's uncompromising speech to a pro-Israel lobby in Washington has persuaded the public back home that war with Iran is possible.
Netanyahu evoked the horrors of the Holocaust, quoting a 1944 letter where the US rejected a request by Jewish leaders to bomb the Nazi death camp, Auschwitz. His message was clear: Israel cannot rely on others to defend its people.
"As prime minister of Israel, I will never let my people live in the shadow of annihilation," he told the influential pro-Israel lobby AIPAC on Monday after meeting US President Barak Obama.
"We have waited for diplomacy to work, we have waited for sanctions to work. We cannot afford to wait much longer."
The words resonated in Israel, with analysts, commentators and former military officers seeing a distinct sharpening of tone towards Tehran, which itself has called for the destruction of the state of Israel.
"The pistol isn't only loaded, but the safety catch has been released," Uzi Dayan, a former general and national security adviser, told Israel Radio.
Israel is adamant it will not let Iran build an atomic bomb and has been pushing Washington to pile pressure on Tehran to force it to abandon its nuclear programme. The Jewish state is believed to be the only nuclear power in the region.
Iran says its programme is for civilian purposes, but few in the West believe this, with the European Union and US applying increasingly severe economic sanctions to force Tehran to halt its uranium enrichment drive and return to talks.
Israeli experts, including Dayan, say sanctions will only work if there is a credible military threat behind them.
This has led sceptics to believe that the accompanying rhetoric is just for show, but the language has reached such a peak that Netanyahu will lose all credibility at home if it proves to be hot air.
The US president has appealed for sanctions to be given more time and although Washington agrees with Israel that it is unacceptable for Iran to get a nuclear weapon, the terminology used by Obama and Netanyahu this week was different.
While Obama talked of preventing Iran from "obtaining" a bomb, Netanyahu spoke about preventing it from "developing" one.
Officials say this means Israel wants to see Iran deprived of the various jigsaw pieces needed when manufacturing a bomb.
Washington, by contrast, would only move if it saw Tehran actively trying to put the pieces together.
Monday's speech represented Netanyahu's clearest endorsement of this doctrine since taking office in 2009, but critics said he still had to convince a sceptical public of the need for war.
An opinion poll published last week said just 19% of Israelis thought their nation should attack Iran, even if they did not first get the support of Washington.
Many Israelis fret the country is not prepared for conflict, with analysts predicting it could be hit with a barrage of missiles from Iran and its allies, such as Hizbollah in Lebanon.
Curiously, just hours after Netanyahu spoke, Israel's Civil Defence Minister Matan Vilnai issued a message via SMS.
"Israel has the capability of intercepting missiles coming at it from any place on earth... Every citizen knows the requirement to be prepared for any emergency situation in the best possible way."
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