Report: Defense Secretary Panetta Fears Israel Will Attack Iran Within Months

Washington Post writer David Ignatius is reporting Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s biggest fears are the growing possibilities “that Israel will attack Iran over the next few months.”

RELATED: Iranian TV Airs Footage Of Captured US Drone

Ignatius drew attention to the matter in his foreign policy column Thursday, forebodingly headlined “Is Israel preparing to attack Iran?” He wrote:

Panetta believes there is a strong likelihood that Israel will strike Iran in April, May or June — before Iran enters what Israelis described as a “zone of immunity” to commence building a nuclear bomb. Very soon, the Israelis fear, the Iranians will have stored enough enriched uranium in deep underground facilities to make a weapon — and only the United States could then stop them militarily.
[…]
President Obama and Panetta are said to have cautioned the Israelis that the United States opposes an attack, believing that it would derail an increasingly successful international economic sanctions program and other non-military efforts to stop Iran from crossing the threshold. But the White House hasn’t yet decided precisely how the United States would respond if the Israelis do attack.

Watch the report from CNN below:

Politico’s Tim Mak reports that Panetta later added fuel to the fire by “refusing to shoot down Ignatius’s article.” “No, I’m just not commenting,” he said, according to the Associated Press.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!