IDF/AF treina para realizar massivo ataque aéreo contra o Irã

Telavive – O vice-primeiro-ministro de Israel, Moshe Yaalon, afirmou ontem que, em caso de guerra, a Força Aérea israelense tem capacidade para atacar um país distante como o Irã. Yaalon, que também é ministro para Assuntos Estratégicos, fez o pronunciamento, considerado sem precedentes, durante conferência. "Não há dúvida de que a capacidade tecnológica (da Força Aérea israelense) melhorou nos últimos anos, aumentando a distância e as possibilidades de fornecimento de combustível (no ar)", afirmou Yaalon. "A tecnologia gerou uma melhora dramática da exatidão, do armamento e da capacidade de inteligência”, acrescentou. "Podemos utilizar essa capacidade (da Força Aérea) na guerra contra o terror em Gaza, contra os foguetes no Líbano, contra o Exército sírio e também na guerra contra um país distante como o Irã." Essa foi a primeira vez que Yaalon utilizou o termo "guerra" no contexto do regime islâmico. O primeiro-ministro, Benjamin Netanyahu, por sua vez, afirmou que o Irã estaria se preparando para cometer um "segundo Holocausto" e disse que "deve-se usar de todos os meios para impedir que isso aconteça". Os pronunciamentos sobre a possibilidade de que Israel venha a atacar o Irã levaram o presidente americano, Barack Obama, a enviar emissários especiais – o chefe da Central de Inteligência Americana (CIA), Leon Panetta, e o chefe das Forças Armadas americanas, Mike Mullen – para convencer o governo israelense de que o caminho para impedir o desenvolvimento de um projeto nuclear iraniano para fins militares seria por intermédio de sanções. CISJORDÂNIA No mesmo dia, Israel anunciou a disposição de dar continuidade à construção, nos próximos dois anos, de residências judaicas em Jerusalém Oriental anexada, o que motivou protestos formais dos palestinos junto a Washington. "É evidente que vamos prosseguir com o levantamento de casas nos próximos dois anos em Gilo, Pisgat Zeev, French Hill e outros locais", declarou à rádio pública Yulio Edelstein, ministro da Informação israelense, em referência aos bairros de colonização israelense edificados depois de 1967, na Região Leste, de maioria árabe da cidade sagrada. A comunidade internacional não reconhece a anexação de Jerusalém Oriental desde sua conquista por Israel em junho de 1967. A Autoridade Nacional Palestina (ANP) protestou formalmente junto aos Estados Unidos contra a construção, apenas um dia depois do anúncio do lançamento de negociações de paz indiretas. Fonte: O Estado de Minas Israeli Military Demonstrates Ability to Attack Iran, U.S. Officials Say Friday, June 20, 2008 Print ShareThis  AP FILE: An F16 Soufa prepares for takeoff at an Israeli Air Force base. American military officials say Israel launched a major military exercise that appeared to be aimed in part at demonstrating its ability to stage an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. Israel's military refused to publicly confirm or deny whether the exercise was a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack. But a senior Israeli Air Force official close to the operation told FOX News that the military is preparing for all possibilities with Iran, and during this exercise was testing its refueling capabilities. The source said helicopters were even used to practice how to respond to a downed plane. An Israeli fighter pilot also confirmed to FOX News that he took part in the mock air mission in mid-May. Pentagon officials said Israel sent dozens of aircraft on the large-scale mission in the eastern Mediterranean. The aircraft used in the drill, F-15s and F-16s, flew a distance of about 900 miles — similar to the distance between Israel and uranium-enrichment facilities at Natanz, Iran, officials said. One defense official said the exercise could be taken as a show of force to Iran and a demonstration to the world that Israel is serious about the need to challenge the country's nuclear program — and might be prepared to do so militarily. "They have been conducting some large-scale exercises — they live in a tough neighborhood," one U.S. official said, though he offered no other recent examples. Another defense official told FOX News that the "dry run" was the second time in three months Israel has carried out such a drill. The official said the reports on the mission were probably the result of a deliberate leak from the Pentagon to send a signal to Iran — and even Israel — about a potential strike against Iran. Privately, Pentagon officials grimace at the idea of Israel striking Iran, fearing the unintended consequences of such an attack. The Jerusalem Post reported that a senior cleric in Iran warned Israel, in response to the drill, that it would react to such a strike with a "strong blow." The New York Times first reported Friday that more than 100 Israeli fighter jets took part in the maneuvers over the eastern Mediterranean and Greece. Citing undisclosed American officials, it said the exercise appeared to be an effort to focus on long-range strikes. "They wanted us to know, they wanted the Europeans to know and they wanted the Iranians to know," a Pentagon official told the Times. "There's a lot of signaling going on at different levels." The newspaper reported the drill was executed in June, but the senior Israeli source told FOX News it was actually carried out in May. The source said the air force got permission from the countries along the Mediterranean to fly the mission. The Israeli Air Force needed permission to conduct the exercise from all the countries whose air space was entered, according to the official. The Israeli planes flew above civilian air space to avoid disrupting any passenger jets. Click here to read the full story in The New York Times. U.S. officials, however, did not believe Israel had decided to attack Iran or think such a strike was imminent. Asked to comment, the Israeli military issued a statement saying only that the Israeli air force "regularly trains for various missions in order to confront and meet the challenges posed by the threats facing Israel." Israeli military analyst Martin Van Creveld of Jerusalem's Hebrew University said military preparations for a possible attack are indeed under way. "Israel has been talking about this possibility for a long time, that it would not take an Iranian nuclear weapon lying down. And it has been practicing the operation or operations for a long time," he said. But though an Israeli strike would likely be able to "paralyze the most important Iranian nuclear installations," it probably won't be able to destroy the program entirely, Van Creveld said. "I would be very surprised if Israel can really knock out every part of this program, which by all accounts appears to be large and well-concealed and well-dispersed," he said. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev offered no comment beyond the military's statement. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he prefers that Iran's nuclear ambitions be halted by diplomatic means, but has pointedly declined to rule out military action. In an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel published on Wednesday, Olmert said the current international sanctions against Iran would probably not succeed alone, adding there were "many things that can be done economically, politically, diplomatically and militarily." Asked if Israel was capable of taking military action against Iran, Olmert said, "Israel always has to be in a position to defend itself against any adversary and against any threat of any kind." Russia's foreign minister is warning against the use of force on Iran, saying there is no proof it is trying to build nuclear weapons with the program Tehran said is for generating power. There are precedents for unilateral Israeli action in such cases. In 1981, Israeli jets bombed Iraq's Osirak nuclear facility to end dictator Saddam Hussein's nuclear program. And last September Israel bombed a facility in Syria that U.S. officials said was a nuclear reactor being constructed with North Korean assistance. A U.S. intelligence report released late last year concluded that Iran has suspended its nuclear weapons program, but Israeli intelligence believes that assessment is incorrect and that work is continuing. FOX News' Jennifer Griffin and The Associated Press contributed to this report. U.S. Says Israeli Exercise Seemed Directed at Iran SIGN IN TO RECOMMEND TWITTER SIGN IN TO E-MAIL OR SAVE THIS PRINT SINGLE PAGE REPRINTS SHARE By MICHAEL R. GORDON and ERIC SCHMITT Published: June 20, 2008 WASHINGTON — Israel carried out a major military exercise earlier this month that American officials say appeared to be a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Related Times Topics: Iran's Nuclear Program Several American officials said the Israeli exercise appeared to be an effort to develop the military’s capacity to carry out long-range strikes and to demonstrate the seriousness with which Israel views Iran’s nuclear program. More than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighters participated in the maneuvers, which were carried out over the eastern Mediterranean and over Greece during the first week of June, American officials said. The exercise also included Israeli helicopters that could be used to rescue downed pilots. The helicopters and refueling tankers flew more than 900 miles, which is about the same distance between Israel and Iran’s uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, American officials said. Israeli officials declined to discuss the details of the exercise. A spokesman for the Israeli military would say only that the country’s air force “regularly trains for various missions in order to confront and meet the challenges posed by the threats facing Israel.” But the scope of the Israeli exercise virtually guaranteed that it would be noticed by American and other foreign intelligence agencies. A senior Pentagon official who has been briefed on the exercise, and who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the political delicacy of the matter, said the exercise appeared to serve multiple purposes. One Israeli goal, the Pentagon official said, was to practice flight tactics, aerial refueling and all other details of a possible strike against Iran’s nuclear installations and its long-range conventional missiles. A second, the official said, was to send a clear message to the United States and other countries that Israel was prepared to act militarily if diplomatic efforts to stop Iran from producing bomb-grade uranium continued to falter. “They wanted us to know, they wanted the Europeans to know, and they wanted the Iranians to know,” the Pentagon official said. “There’s a lot of signaling going on at different levels.” Several American officials said they did not believe that the Israeli government had concluded that it must attack Iran and did not think that such a strike was imminent. Shaul Mofaz, a former Israeli defense minister who is now a deputy prime minister, warned in a recent interview with the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot that Israel might have no choice but to attack. “If Iran continues with its program for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack,” Mr. Mofaz said in the interview published on June 6, the day after the unpublicized exercise ended. “Attacking Iran, in order to stop its nuclear plans, will be unavoidable.” But Mr. Mofaz was criticized by other Israeli politicians as seeking to enhance his own standing as questions mount about whether the embattled Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, can hang on to power. Israeli officials have told their American counterparts that Mr. Mofaz’s statement does not represent official policy. But American officials were also told that Israel had prepared plans for striking nuclear targets in Iran and could carry them out if needed. Iran has shown signs that it is taking the Israeli warnings seriously, by beefing up its air defenses in recent weeks, including increasing air patrols. In one instance, Iran scrambled F-4 jets to double-check an Iraqi civilian flight from Baghdad to Tehran. “They are clearly nervous about this and have their air defense on guard,” a Bush administration official said of the Iranians. Any Israeli attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities would confront a number of challenges. Many American experts say they believe that such an attack could delay but not eliminate Iran’s nuclear program. Much of the program’s infrastructure is buried under earth and concrete and installed in long tunnels or hallways, making precise targeting difficult. There is also concern that not all of the facilities have been detected. To inflict maximum damage, multiple attacks might be necessary, which many analysts say is beyond Israel’s ability at this time. But waiting also entails risks for the Israelis. Israeli officials have repeatedly expressed fears that Iran will soon master the technology it needs to produce substantial quantities of highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons. 1  2  NEXT PAGE » Ethan Bronner contributed reporting from Jerusalem.