MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

By Barak Ravid, Amos Harel, Zvi Zrahiya and Jonathan Lis – “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are trying to muster a majority in the cabinet in favor of military action against Iran, a senior Israeli official has said. According to the official, there is a ‘small advantage’ in the cabinet for the opponents of such an attack.

Netanyahu and Barak recently persuaded Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who previously objected to attacking Iran, to support such a move.

Although more than a million Israelis have had to seek shelter during a week of rockets raining down on the south, political leaders have diverted their attention to arguing over a possible war with Iran. Leading ministers were publicly dropping hints on Tuesday that Israeli could attack Iran, although a member of the forum of eight senior ministers said no such decision had been taken.

Senior ministers and diplomats said the International Atomic Energy Agency’s report, due to be released on November 8, will have a decisive effect on the decisions Israel makes.” Read more.

Israel Test Fires Missile That Can Hit Iran – “Israel successfully test-fired on Wednesday a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and striking Iran, fanning a public debate over whether the country’s leaders are agitating for a military attack on Tehran’s atomic facilities… An Israeli defense official told The Associated Press that the military tested a “rocket propulsion system” in an exercise planned long ago. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of security restrictions, and declined to give further information. Further information about the test was censored by the military. Foreign reports, however, said the military test-fired a long-range Jericho missile — capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and striking Iran.” Read more.

Iran warns Israeli strike will meet ‘harsh punishment’ – “Iran’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Hassan Fairouz Abadi commented Wednesday on reported Israeli threats to strike Iran and warned that Tehran would retaliate with a ‘surprising punishment’ if Israel pursued such a ‘mistake.’ ‘Even though the likelihood for such an attack is low, we see the threat as a serious threat and are on full alert,’ Abadi told Iran’s Fars news agency. Speaking on the sidelines of an Iranian defense conference, he added that ‘America knows that a Zionist military strike in Iran would cause it major damages in addition to the damages caused to this regime.’ He further warned the US against striking in Syria, as NATO forces have done in Libya, saying: ‘The military regime in Damascus is at the forefront of our dealings with the occupying Zionist regime… The Libyan model will not intimidate Syria. If they strike there will be a Muslim uprising that would leave nothing of the Americans or the Zionist regime.'” Read more.