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Israel fears Iraq, swayed by Iran, will resume its hostility
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SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Government sources said the prospects of a Shi'ite takeover of most of
Iraq has become the subject of discussion within the military, Foreign
Ministry and intelligence community. They said the worst scenario would be
an Iranian attempt to use Iraq as a launching pad for attacks against
Israel.
"The conclusion," Tel Aviv University senior researcher Ofra Bengio
said, "is that while the recent elections are undoubtedly an important step
in efforts to institutionalize Iraqi democracy, the deeper processes of
liberalization, construction of civil society and national reconciliation,
so essential to sustainable democracy over the long term, have so far failed
to make much headway."
For his part, Ya'alon said Israel has become vulnerable to Arab and
Iranian missile strikes. He said Iran has been building missile arsenals in
Lebanon and in the Gaza Strip. Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in
September 2005.
"Israel's unilateral withdrawals were perceived as escape from the
rocket threat," Ya'alon said. "Israel failed to create reliable deterrence
for the future."
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