In an interview with the New York Times Thursday, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said that Iran´s leadership was “rational,” and that he did not believe Tehran would use its nuclear technology to build a nuclear weapon. Referring to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Gantz said that he probably realizes that build a nuclear bomb would be “a mistake, and I don´t think he will want to go the extra mile” beyond developing nuclear capability, at least at this point.

However, as rational as Iran may be, Gantz said, fundamentalist Islam has a way of making people do some very irrational things. I think the Iranian leadership is composed of very rational people. But I agree that such a capability, in the hands of Islamic fundamentalists who at particular moments could make different calculations, is dangerous.”

Gantz´s statement is at odds with comments by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who last week said that Iran was “feverishly” working to build a nuclear weapon, telling CNN in an interview that work was constantly being done in Iran to develop atomic bombs.

Meanwhile, in a separate development, a prominent Arab politician played down the alleged threat Israel poses to Iran. Salim al-Hoss, Lebanon´s former Prime Minister, told al-Kawthar TV that pronouncements by Israeli politicians about the danger of Iran´s nuclear program and the need to take decisive action to stop it were “mere rhetoric.”

Al-Hoss said that it was unlikely Israel would try to attack Iran because of the latter´s military prowess. "It is not easy for the ‘Israeli’ enemy to simply attack a country like Iran, because in that case, Iran will for sure have a highly powerful response,” he said. (IsraelNationalNews © 2012 04/26/12)