– Many Israeli adults would support a pre-emptive strike against a nuclear facility in Iran, according to a poll by Teleseker published in Maariv. 63 per cent of respondents think Israel should bomb the Iranian nuclear core.

After being branded as part of an “axis of evil” by U.S. president George W. Bush in January 2002, Iran has contended that its nuclear program aims to produce energy, not weapons.

In November 2004, the Iranian government announced a voluntary suspension of its uranium enrichment program following international pressure. In August 2005, Iran resumed uranium conversion activities at the Isfahan facility.

In June 2005, former Tehran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won the Iranian presidential election in a run-off over Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani with 61.6 per cent of all cast ballots.

In December, Ahmadinejad suggested that Israel be removed from the Middle East and questioned the Holocaust, saying, “They have fabricated a legend under the name ‘Massacre of the Jews’ and they hold it higher than God himself, religion itself and the prophets themselves.”

Last year, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon urged the international community to put more pressure in Iran, and claimed the country may have the capability to build a nuclear bomb within the next three years. In 1981, Israel launched a pre-emptive strike in Iraq to destroy the Osiraq nuclear reactor.

Polling Data

Should Israel bomb the Iranian nuclear core?

Yes: 63%

No: 30%

Source: Teleseker / Maariv
Methodology: Interviews with 513 Israeli adults, conducted on Aug. 15, 2006. Margin of error is 4.3 per cent.