Israel’s Channel 10 reported this week that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “is determined to attack Iran before the U.S. elections” and that Israel is now “closer than ever” to a military strike intended to foil Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

The station’s military reporter said Netanyahu was unlikely to wait for a potential meeting with President Barack Obama in late September. “I doubt Obama could say anything that would convince Netanyahu to delay a possible attack,” the reporter added, before saying that Netanyahu and Israel’s defense minister believe Obama would be pressured to support an attack given the U.S. presidential elections in November.

Ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern earlier stressed the possibility of such an attack.

— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.

The Times of Israel:

The TV station’s military reporter Alon Ben-David, who earlier this year was given extensive access to the Israel Air Force as it trained for a possible attack, reported that, since upgraded sanctions against Iran have failed to force a suspension of the Iranian nuclear program in the past two months, “from the prime minister’s point of view, the time for action is getting ever closer.”

Asked by the news anchor in the Hebrew-language TV report how close Israel now was to “a decision and perhaps an attack,” Ben-David said: “It appears that we are closer than ever.”

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