U.S. envoy: Israel not planning to strike Iran

Israel's ambassador to the United States Michael Oren on Sunday rejected recent assessments suggesting that Israel was planning an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

In an interview with Fareed Zakaria on CNN, Oren was asked about multiple reports suggesting that Israel was planning to strike Iran's nuclear facilities in efforts to prevent the Islamic Republic from obtaining nuclear weapons, though Iran insists its nuclear program has nothing but peaceful goals. Zakaria told Oren that John Bolton, the U.S.'s former ambassador to the United Nations, had gone as far as to say that he believed Israel was likely to attack Iran by the end of this year.

"I don't think it's true. I think that we are far from even contemplating such things right now," Oren said in response. "The government of Israel has supported President Obama in his approach to Iran - the engagement, the outreach to Iran."

Zakaria questioned the truthfulness of Oren's statement, saying "You're just saying this, Michael. It is well known that the government of Israel is deeply uncomfortable and nervous about the idea of engagement with Iran."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1107858.html

Nice to hear it from the ambassador, however.

The planning has already been done, and the "I don't think it's true. I think that we are far from even contemplating such things right now," has two qualifiers. One is that "right now" can mean anything. The other is the "I think" phrasing, which is rather far from "I am certain and swear on my life and honor."

I think it is closer to a confirmation than a denial.