channel ten in israel and he reported that benjamin netanyahu is determined to attack iran before our presidential elections. ilan, you first, why are you so convinced an attack will happen? >> i didn't say that, i said the prime minister seems very determined to lane much a strike between now and october. the time to act is now. he believes if he waits and passes the november elections, no one, including the u.s. will do anything in order to stop iran and the next time it will have the operational conditions to launch a strike against riir in the coming spring will be too late. he still needs to pass some very

according to a major daily israeli newspaper the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his defense minister would like to strike iran as early as before the u.s. presidential elections taking place in november this year now amid escalating media reports and expert predictions that such an attack could in fact be around the corner the peepers front page article on friday authored by its senior commentators and reportedly based off of conversations with israel's defense minister says that if it were up to benjamin netanyahu and his minister of defense israel would cause a military attack on iran sometime within the next several months importantly israel's security cabinet ministers have been resisting such an option for now what's important here is while israel is weighing this option we know of course that iran continues to insist that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes exclusively and we have seen the obama administration be careful in urging israel to stick with diplomacy and now of course the big question is whether israel may in fact go ahead with such an attack and wh

benjamin netanyahu, that's what you're saying?yeah, any promise made by barack obama will not be fulfilled after. clearly there is a distrust between those two gentleman, and he believes the u.s. will be forced to stand by israel only before the election. that is why he and defense minister are advocating for an attack now. and the whole military believe otherwise. we should not rush into a strike. >> ali, i can't imagine this is sitting well with allied forces right now. what responses have you heard and what do you make of the idea that they would not support israel after the elections. >> they are saying they're trying to buy as much time as they could until the elections and possibly make a deal with obama in his last term. also, iranians think they can't take it out unilaterally. i was speaking to one iranian analyst saying that americans voted for obama to stop two wars, not start a third one. this is just rhetoric to maintain pressure on iran, but there has been hair raising preparations taking. so there is still a lot to p

joining us is the former chief of staff to benjamin netanyahu. thanks for joining us? >> great to be on the show. >> this week president ahmadinejad repeated his call for the demolition of israel. meanwhile, as we just said, iran has just improved this short range missile and it has range of 190 miles. how troubling is this? it is concerning for israel. we've got to understand. we have mahmoud ahmadinejad talking about destroying israel. iran is racing towards acquiring a nuclear weapon. just recently they've tripled the pace of the enrichment of high grade uranium. they're moving their facilities underground to be immune from a future israeli attack, and in the meantime, the world is doing basically nothing except for talking about it. so we are very concerned. we're nearing the very last moment and we're urging the united states to create a plausible threat which is the only way to prevent the need of an israeli attack on iran. >> back to iran's latest missile, 35 us military bases are within iran's missile range. in regards to all of that, israel has upgraded its mi

in a joint public appearance on wednesday, the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu appeared to criticize the u.s. role in international talks over iran's nuclear program, saying diplomacy has failed. in response, leon panetta assured benjamin netanyahu all options remain on the table. >> a few months ago, when all else fails, america will act. but these declarations have also not yet convinced the iranians to stop their program. however forceful are statement, the have not convinced iran we're serious about stopping. >> we will not allow iran to develop a nuclear weapon. period. we will not allow a limb to develop a nuclear weapon. -- we will not allow them to develop a nuclear weapon. >> a new study is predicting republican candidate mitt romney's tax plan would boost the income of the nation's wealthiest taxpayers while reducing that of the middle- class. the non-partisan tax policy center says romney's proposals would increase net income by an average of 4.1% for those earning over $1 million a year. those making less than $200,000 would see their net income reduced by 1.2%.

he was boasting that he and benjamin netanyahu had worked at boston partners together many years ago and knew each other and seemed netanyahu has some of distanced himself from him. can you talk about what mitt romney actually said, talking about -- let's play a clip of mitt romney saying the u.s. would stand by its allies in a standoff with iran. >> we should employ any and all measures to dissuade the iranian regime from its nuclear cores, and it is our fervent hope that diplomatic and economic measures will do so. in the final analysis, of course, no option should be excluded. we recognize israel's right to defend itself and that is right for america to stand with you. >> gideon levy, your response? >> he was not welcome in any other place. it is very obvious the present government in israel, mainly benjamin netanyahu, is willing to see romney in the white house. but i must say romney was quite cautious in his public expressions. if you analyze what he is saying, he did not say anything that president obama did not say. those vague promises you can hear from both candidates, from

he also met prime minister benjamin netanyahu, who said iran is using diplomacy to play for time. >>nto business news now. italian prime minister mario monti has been beating the drum for more measures to help shore up the eurozone. >> monti once stronger nations to help ease the borrowing costs for europe's southern neighbors, who face the risk of contagion from the debt crisis. he made a hard pitch in finland. >> it is a country that has been one of the most skeptical. they want to run the eurozone by the ball but. >> when it comes to the euro, the italian prime minister does not see eye to eye with his spanish counterpart. even so, mario monti did his best to persuade the fiscal conservative of the merits of giving dsm a banking license, which would mean it could borrow money directly from the ecb. >> i think this will in due course work. i think that progress is in integration of fiscal policies, banking policies, financial policies. we will have to proceed. >> but finland is against moving the fiscal goal posts. >> the finnish people are decrying which believes as it has been wr

. >> benjamin netanyahu seems very determined to launch a strike against iran before november. any time between now and november is the window of opportunity. >> the obama administration is against the unilateral strike against iran. they believe there is still time for diplomacy. one analyst said if israel was really on the brink of an attack, they would not be talking about it too much. >> a typhoon is threatening to okinawa, japan. it's said to be the strongest in years. winds are reaching around 112 miles an hour. so far, for injuries have been reported and about 40,000 people are without power. >> a hurricane warning tonight for new orleans. >> that is something that has changed with the 5:00 update. isaac is still a tropical storm and it will gain strength over the next day or so. closer to home, let me tell you about rain -- a lot of rain hugging the coast of the chesapeake bay. some ominous looking clouds outside right now, but nothing we need to fear as we move through the evening hours. some sunshine in virginia. 73 degrees at reagan national airport. huntington -- hu

benjamin netanyahu reportedly determined to attack iran before the u.s. november elections.ry. my great pal is up next. [ male announcer ] at scottrade, you won't just find us online, you'll also find us in person, with dedicated support teams at over 500 branches nationwide. so when you call or visit, you can ask for a name you know. because personal service starts with a real person. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our support teams are nearby, ready to help. it's no wonder so many investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. it's no wonder so many investors are saying... it's something you're born with. and inspires the things you choose to do. you do what you do... because it matters. at hp we don't just believe in the power of technology. we believe in the power of people when technology works for you. to dream. to create. to work. if you're going to do something. make it matter. >> before i get to the republican convention, we've got a tough question. are israel and iran on the brink of war? there's a report out tonight that isra

an influential israeli tv station this week saying benjamin netanyahu, the prime minister of israel,ke -- bomb iran before the election. this talk had died down, everyone thought this has gone away. now it's raising its ugly head again. do you take that risk seriously? >> absolutely i do. and more importantly, i think american administration officials do. that's why you've seen this constant travel over there by members of the cabinet to try to reassure the israelis. they were told to wait and see if sanctions would be effective. sanctions are having an impact but they're not changing iranian behavior. and that's the ultimate test for the israeli prime minister. so i think we've got to expect that benjamin netanyahu will act if he believes that the sanctions aren't changing iranian behavior. >> and the president is praying that that action if it happens is not before november. thanks so much to both of you. check out eric's great book as well. >>> next, there's a company in arkansas, arkansas, and it knows more about you than any government agency, more than google, more than the irs

he had meetings with prime minister benjamin netanyahu. a big topic of discussion was iran.e's what benjamin netanyahu had to say about the need to do something about iran soon. >> right now, the iranian regime believes that the international community does not have the will to stop its nuclear program. this must change and it must change quickly because time to resolve this issue peacefully is running out. >> as a response, panetta says the united states, quote, will not allow iran to develop a nuclear weapon, period. >>> the secretary of state, hillary clinton, has started a major tour of a crucial continent, africa. she's going to be visiting many countries. she starts in senegal. she's going to be talking about economic growth and also talking about democracy. democracy is a crucial issue, especially in mali, where al qaeda is rising. the secretary addressed that during a speech today. >> by some estimates, this could set back mali's economic progress by nearly a decade. it certainly created a vacuum in the north in which rebellion and extremism have spread, threatening

panetta told benjamin netanyahu that u.s. officials are committed to resolving iran's nuclear issue. >> we will not allow them to develop a nuclear weapon. and we will exert all options in the effort to ensure that that does not happen. >> netanyahu said that sanctions have hurt iran's economy but he said they have had no impact on the nuclear program. he suggested that israeli patience was wearing thin. >>> president bashar al-assad has told his troops that their battle against opposition forces will determine the fate of syria. his written message gave no clues to his whereabouts. assad has not spoken in public since the bomb in damascus last month killed three of his security aides. assad issued the statement in a military magazine on wednesday. the founding day of the syrian army. he said the rebels are terrorists plotting the country's fall. [ explosion ] troops loyal to assad are fierce fighting and it continues in the city of aleppo. u.n. observers have confirmed the military is using war planes to fire on the rebels a

he told benjamin netanyahu they are committed to resolving iran's nuclear issue. >> we will not allow them to develop a nuclear weapon. and we will exert all options in the effort to ensure that that does not happen. >> netanyahu said that sanctions have hurt iran's economy but have not had an impact on t nuear perhaps. >>> syria's president says his government's battle against rebels will determine the country's face. it's the first official statement since a bomb in damascus last month killed some of his senior government officials. assad's whereabouts are unknown. he issued the statement in a military magazine on wednesday. the founding day of the syrian army. he said the rebels are terrorists plotting the country's fall. fierce fighting continues in the city. u.n. observers have confirmed the military is using war planes to fire on the rebels and the opposition has tanks and heavy weapons. the violence is worsening. veteran video shows the free syria army executing fighters. >>> workers at a brand-name japanese television maker will rather working at one just isn't what it used to

israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is planning to bury a controversial recent report on west bank settlements according to israeli media now that document was sanctioned by his own government to the states but the country's presence in the west bank is not occupation something that neo does want to discuss in order to avoid international scrutiny we spoke to an author of a previous report on the issue which produced very different findings. with me i have to tell us a sign in those who'd attorney and also the author of a two thousand and five israeli government sponsored report that documented the illegality of the building of outposts on the set on the thank you very much for joining us here on r.t. there has just recently been another report also government sponsored the levi report there found exactly the opposite that these outposts in fact are legal in the country of nor how is it possible to have these contradictions my report. it's lying on the supreme court of justice for israel decisions for their kids for forty five years old morse that international law applies in the w