NETANYAHU: I'M COMING BACK AND BUSH GETTING READY TO HIT IRAN

Netanyahu Prepares For Return To Premiership, Says Bush Planning To Go Alone Against Iran (NY Sun)
New York -- Benjamin Netanyahu, as part of an American tour repositioning himself for a return to the Israeli premiership, told an audience in New York yesterday that President Bush is preparing to ditch the United Nations to take on Iran alone and that American politicians of all parties would do well to stop squabbling about Iraq and join the president in focusing on threat from Tehran.

The former prime minister, who leads the right of center Likud Party in opposition to the current government, went on to tell lunch guests of the Hudson Institute that another war between Hezbollah and Israel is inevitable and that a shift in Israeli politics is about to take place with his return to power and a return to the principles that guided thinking in Jerusalem until the Oslo Accords.

Largely ignored in the coverage of Mr. Bush's speech Tuesday on the war on terror, Mr. Netanyahu told his audience more than once, was Mr. Bush's statement that "the world's free nations will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon." Not that the "United Nations won't allow," said Mr. Netanyahu, but that the "free nations" of the world won't allow. Mr. Netanyahu called it a sign that on the Iranian problem the president was preparing to stop working through the United Nations and instead work with whoever would join him.

Unfortunately, said Mr. Netanyahu, Britain and America, along with Israel and Iran, are the only countries at the moment that understand what is at stake if Iran acquires the bomb. Meantime, "the Europeans …" Mr. Netanyahu trailed off, struggling to find the right word, at which point members of the audience interjected with inaudible, although apparently uncomplimentary, suggestions. "I'm trying to be diplomatic," Mr. Netanyahu replied before saying, "for the sake of mankind," Iran couldn't be permitted to have a nuclear weapon.

SEE ALSO: Bush concludes EU strategy on Iran has been a failure (Insight on the News)
President Bush has quietly expressed regret over his decision to embrace a European diplomatic campaign in an effort to halt Iran's nuclear program. Administration sources said Mr. Bush has concluded that the European Union’s effort has been a failure. The sources said Mr. Bush was briefed that the Iranian leadership was emboldened by the incentives offered by Brussels and Washington and has accelerated Tehran's nuclear program.