Israel attack on Iran 'desperate act'

(PRESS TV) An Israeli F-16 flying above an F-15. Amid apparent differences between Washington and Tel Aviv, a U.S. senator has described a possible Israeli attack on Iran as a 'desperate act'.  In an interview with the Jerusalem Post on Wednesday, Sen. Frank Lautenberg warned Israel against mounting a military strike on Iran.  The Jewish Senator, who is a Democrat from New Jersey, said that "Bombing Iranian nuclear facilities would be a desperate act for Israel." Israel has to keep a military action as the 'last resort' when it comes to halting Tehran's nuclear work, he added.  The West, spearheaded by the U.S. and Israel, accuses Iran -- a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) -- of pursuing a nuclear weapons program.  This is while Tehran has repeatedly said that a military nuclear program does not fit in its defense paradigm, saying that its nuclear program is aimed at producing electricity to meet its growing demand.  Israel has long threatened to put an end to Iran's nuclear program, which it describes as a 'threat' to its existence, by resorting to a military action - a move strongly condemned by the Obama White House, which has plans to diplomatically engage Iran over the issue.  However, the New Jersey senator said that Israel never waited to get the go-ahead from U.S. government, which, according to Lautenberg has never dictated to Israel to follow a path that would lead to harming Tel Aviv.  "Israel didn't ask us permission to drop bombs twice on Syrian nuclear facilities. I didn't hear America scolding Israel for what it did then," he said. He added that if Israel were to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities, they would not receive a 'chastising' response from Washington.  This is while the U.S. under President Barack Obama has withdrawn its carte blache support for Tel Aviv, which has backtracked on a number of the deals it had earlier signed, including the Annapolis agreement.  Lautenberg attempted to downplay any rift between the U.S. the Israeli government led by hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  "There have been occasional moments when relations were chilly, but [a confrontation between the two countries] has not been a problem," he said.  His remarks come as the two sides seem to have diverged on different issues including Iran's nuclear issue and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Washington views the Middle East peace process as the most important issue that Tel Aviv needs to address, while Israel in an attempt to further stall the creation of a sovereign Palestinian homeland tends to shift attention to the so called 'Iranian threat'.  Besides, in defiance of U.S. calls for a halt to settlement construction in the occupied territories Netanyahu said that the activities would continue in a Sunday cabinet meeting.  Netanyahu said that he did not intend to build new settlements, "but it makes no sense to ask us not to answer to the needs of natural growth and to stop all construction."  The U.S. expressed dismay following the remarks and rejected any exception to the freeze demand.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday that Washington "wants to see a stop to settlements" which does indeed include 'natural growth'.