Sharon Urges U.S. to Strike Iraq, Israelis Favor Attack

JERUSALEM, Aug 16 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Far-right Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon urged the United States not to delay its threatened strike on Iraq any further, the Israeli daily newspaper, Haaretz, reported Friday, August 16, as an opinion poll showed the majority of Israelis favor a fresh strike on Iraq.

Postponing war on 12-year-sanction hit Iraq "will not create a more convenient environment for action in the future," the newspaper quoted Sharon as saying in a message sent to the U.S. administration.

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres voiced much the same opinion on CNN overnight.

"The problem today is not if but when," Peres told the news network, "and if they think we wait, Saddam will change, and if he will change, it ... will be for the worse; he will have more weapons."

Both Sharon and Peres stressed, however, that they would respect any U.S. decision and were not seeking to pressure Washington to launch an attack on Iraq.

Israel fears that if Washington attacks Iraq, part of Baghdad's response will be an attack on the Jewish state, as happened during the Gulf War in 1991 when 39 Scud missile smacked into Israel, killing two people and injuring hundreds.

However, Sharon repeatedly warned U.S. President George W. Bush that Israel will respond and not exercise restraint as was the case then.

In a separate related development, the majority of Israelis favor a U.S. attack on Iraq to overthrow the regime of President Saddam Hussein, according to an opinion poll published Friday.

The survey, in the Israeli daily Maariv, showed that 57 percent of Israelis answered affirmatively when asked if they favored a U.S. attack on Iraq to overthrow Saddam's regime, while 28 percent said "no" and 15 percent had no opinion.

Israelis are essentially split on the question of whether their country is ready to face a chemical and biological weapons attack from Iraq, with 45 percent saying it is and 40 percent disagreeing.

The Jewish state has been preparing for such a scenario by setting up anti-missile batteries. On Wednesday, a Defense Ministry spokesman announced that iodine pills against radiation would be included in the kits distributed to the population in areas at risk.

Military radio said this measure was decided in the case of an Iraqi attack on nuclear installations that could leave a radiation fall-out.