Merkel warns Israel v. attack

GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to order a military strike against Iranian nuclear sites, the newspaper Haaretz reported on Friday.

The article, citing an Israeli official on condition of anonymity, said Merkel had called Netanyahu 10 days ago amid a wave of reports of an imminent Israeli attack, to give a “clear message as to her opposition” to such action.

Merkel urged Netanyahu to “give more time for sanctions and diplomacy to work,” and warned of the consequences of such an attack for security in the Middle East.

A spokesman for Netanyahu refused to comment on the report or to confirm the conversation had taken place.

Israel and its main ally the United States accuse Iran of seeking to develop an atomic arsenal, but Tehran insists its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only.

Netanyahu told a visiting US congressman last Friday that Iran was speeding up its quest for nuclear weapons in defiance of international sanctions.