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S P E C I A L: The Standoff with Iraq Iraq standoff builds tension in Israel
November 16, 1997
Web posted at: 11:49 p.m. EST (0449 GMT)JERUSALEM (CNN) -- On the faces of Israelis, the tension has been building visibly in recent days. Despite Israeli intelligence assessments that Iraq is not planning to attack Israel again, there is reportedly a three-fold increase in the number of people obtaining gas masks.
Six years ago, during the Persian Gulf War, Iraq fired 39 ballistic missiles at Israel. But Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai told CNN that Israel believes Iraq's ability to strike here again is greatly reduced.
"We think that they have just a few ballistic missiles, and they have just a few launchers in the area," Mordechai said. "I don't think it is too dangerous, like it was during the Gulf War."
During the war, Israel, at the request of the United States, did not retaliate against Iraq. The Americans wanted Israel to keep out of the conflict in order to keep together its international coalition, which included Arab states.
On Friday, Deputy Defense Minister Silvan Shalom said that this time around, Israel would react if attacked.
An Israeli newspaper reported Sunday that U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has personally asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "sit tight" and stay out of any new conflict.
But the public mood in Israel is much different now. Few people here think that Israel will again allow itself to be attacked and not strike back.
Analysts say that if Iraqi President Saddam Hussein brings his remaining missiles out of hiding, Israel will attack before they can be launched.
"This time, the Americans will not stop us. They have no reason to stop us," said Ron Ben Yishai, an Israeli military analyst. "The coalition hardly exists anyway. So if Israel will react, there would be no reason for the Americans to tell us, 'Don't react.'"
Officially, though, Israel seems to be taking its cues from the United States.
Netanyahu, appearing Sunday on Fox News in the United States, said the Israelis "fully stand behind the president and the United States. ... He's the leader of the free and responsible world."
Some now believe that the greatest potential Iraqi threat is a lone kamikaze pilot racing to fly over Tel Aviv or Haifa spraying biological or chemical weapons.
But few here believe Saddam Hussein wants to risk a massive Israeli counterattack. Israeli analysts believe the Iraqi leader's goal this time is more political than military. If true, that would mean that attacking Israel would be self-defeating.
"His main goal now, or his only goal now, is to take the U.N. off his back," said Ben Yishai. "Attacking Israel will serve the Americans better than anything else, proving that he is a danger to his neighbors."
Jerusalem Bureau Chief Walter Rodgers contributed to this report.
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