Israeli officials: Obama too soft on Iran
Top government officials laud France, UK, but tell Ynet White House policy with regards to Iranian nuclear program 'hesitant'
Senior Israeli officials expressed their disappointment with US President Barack Obama's policy on Iran.
"The administration is still not acting in full force to impose significant sanctions against Tehran," one of the officials told Ynet Sunday night.
On the other hand, officials in Jerusalem lauded French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron. "France and the UK have begun to act determinedly, while Obama's administration has yet to formulate a policy that is sufficiently severe," another official said.
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"While the House of Representatives and the Senate are promoting (anti-Iran) legislation, the White House is operating according to an ideology which could be defined as 'hesitant.' The Iranian issue calls for a clear stance, but the administration has yet to take the necessary measures to significantly hurt the ayatollahs' regime."
US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro told reporters Thursday Israel and the US enjoy close bilateral cooperation on the threat of a nuclear Iran.
"There is no issue that we coordinate more closely on than Iran," Shapiro told reporters in Tel Aviv.
"A nuclear Iran, he added, is "a real threat to Israeli security, ours and our allies', and that is why we are determined to prevent this from happening."
But officials in Jerusalem are not satisfied with Obama's policy on Iran. Defense Minister Ehud Barak said during a recent interview that the international community must impose harsher sanctions against the Islamic Republic in order to incapacitate the Iranian regime and force it to suspend its nuclear program.
