WASHINGTON - Israel is not considering an attack on Iran, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
said an interview with Fox News during his visit to Washington on Wednesday.
"Israel is not leading this struggle. And though I hear from time to time that Israel is planning to hit Iran ... that's not what we think about," Sharon said during the interview.
"Of course we take all precautions and all the steps to defend ourselves. But it's not that Israel should give the answer to the international problem," he said.
In a separate interview with CNN, Sharon was asked about Israel's nuclear weapons development.
He responded by saying that Israel has clarified for years it would refrain from being the first country to use a nuclear weapon in the Middle East.
In response to whether Sharon believes a civil war in Israel could erupt as a result of the impending pullout, he said estimates that very few solders will refuse to carryout orders.
Sharon also said he intends to continue with the scheduled timeframe for the implementation of the disengagement plan.
Urges sanctions on Iran
Sharon has used his visit to Washington to call on senior Bush administration officials to impose sanctions on Iran.
After presenting Israel’s intelligence assessment on the matter to President George W. Bush in Texas, Sharon asked Vice President Dick Cheney to push the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions on Iran
He warned that Iran is closer than most Western countries think to creating a nuclear weapon. He also said diplomatic efforts to persuade Teheran to abandon its nuclear program were actually allowing the Iranians to secretly advance their nuclear interests.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice later told the Wall Street Journal that Israel had provided no "no new revelation" on Iran's nuclear program.
Coordinated effort
Meanwhile, Sharon has characterized his 11th visit to the U.S. as more successful than any of the previous ones, in a bid to dismiss suggestions of significant disagreements with the U.S. administration over the issue of West Bank construction.
The U.S., meanwhile, is working hard to turn the disengagement into a coordinated exit, as opposed to a unilateral move.
Rice has already spoken with Mahmoud Abbas,
briefed him on the meetings with Sharon, and noted a visit by the Palestinian leader to the White House would be arranged soon.
However, sources close to Sharon said an Abbas visit may not be on the agenda at this time, in light of the fragile security situation.
Reuters contributed to this report
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