International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, 7 Jan 2008

The Prime Minister’s Office hosted a closed forum among Israel's senior leaders on Sunday in order to discuss how Defense Minister Ehud Barak will brief visiting US President George W. Bush on Iran this week, with some reports indicating Barak plans to challenge the findings of the recent US National Intelligence Estimate that Iran has frozen its nuclear arms program.

Israel suspects that although Iran indeed did halt its nuclear weapons program in 2003, the fact that they continue to enrich uranium means that they still have plans for weapons development; however Israel has yet to produce definitive evidence that will enable the Bush administration to convince the international community to take decisive action.

The Israeli forum included Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Defense Minister Barak, Minister for Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman, Mossad chief Meir Dagan, and IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, as well as other members of various branches of military intelligence.

Meanwhile, associates of Israeli opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu are accusing Olmert of trying to prevent Netanyahu from meeting with Bush, when the US President visits Israel starting Wednesday. Traditionally, visiting heads of state also meet with the head of Oposition, but as of now Bush is not slated to meet with Netanyahu, a former prime minister.

"It would be right if the president would take the time to listen to someone who represents more than half the people in Israel, who oppose the Annapolis process," Netanyahu was quoted as saying in The Jerusalem Post. Sources in Olmert’s Kadima party have suggested that it is the White House that is showing no interest in meeting the Likud leader.

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