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CNN Sunday Morning

Israelis Want to Join U.S. War on Iraq

Aired August 18, 2002 - 10:06   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: From Jerusalem today, word that Israeli Defense Forces have arrested 15 Palestinians suspected of terrorist activity. As Israel's crackdown on terrorists continues, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is looking beyond the conflict with the Palestinians. CNN's Walter Rodgers has that.
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WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Posing alongside an F-15, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is again signaling loudly Israel is ready to join a war against Saddam Hussein, even while President Bush is still trying to muster support in the United States and Europe. The backdrop is telling. An American-made F-15 Eagle that can carry strategic weapons, bomb Iraq and return. Israeli pilots have been training for that.

"The Israeli Defense Forces are among the best in the world, and we are ready," Sharon says. He's calling on Washington not to delay a war with Saddam Hussein. One Sharon aide said, quote, "if you fight Iraq now, it's a conventional war. If Bush waits, it will be a nuclear conflict."

Officially, Israel denies pressuring the United States to attack Iraq as part of a war on terror, but Israelis believe once Saddam acquires nuclear weapons, Israel will be the first target.

SHIMON PERES, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER: We think that the war is going on right now, a world war. It's a different nature. But this is a war that the free world headed by the United States must win. Otherwise, it will be dangerous to fly, to walk, to build, and eventually to breathe air. We have to win it.

RODGERS: Much has changed since the 1991 Gulf War, when 39 Iraqi SCUD missiles fell on Israel. Iraq is believed to have far fewer missiles now, though the exact number is unknown.

And with its new arrow, anti-ballistic missile system, the Israelis believe they can shoot down incoming Iraqi missiles. Ironically, however, a quick American victory against Saddam might make Israel a more likely target.

LES SUSSER, "JERUSALEM REPORT": If the Americans are about to win a decisive victory and Saddam feels he's got nothing to lose, this will be his last act, an attack on Israel, and Sharon has made it very clear to the Americans that Israel intends to use that capacity if Saddam attacks Israel. RODGERS: Western analysts believe Israel has a last resort nuclear option. A U.S. Senate committee report warned Israel would likely go nuclear if Iraq attacks Israel with chemical or biological weapons.

But Israel also has less draconian options.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are some targets in Iraq that could be attacked with conventional weapons, like the dams over the rivers, that would cause incredible damage without making use of unconventional weapons.

RODGERS: After another inconclusive war with the Palestinians and following a retreat from Lebanon two years ago, Israelis are united on one point. If Saddam attacks this time, Israel will not sit out this war as it did in 1991.

SUSSER: Israel hasn't won a decisive victory. The Israelis feel that they have to show the Arab world that they have what it takes to survive in this region.

RODGERS (on camera): Some in the Sharon government believe that a war with Iraq now might offer new opportunities to reshape the entire Middle East. But then, the unknown factors in any war might also change this region in ways that neither the planners in Washington, nor here could now foresee.

Walter Rodgers, CNN, Jerusalem.

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