Bibi seeks rabbi blessing on Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent his national security adviser to convince a prominent rabbi that an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities is kosher, officials disclosed yesterday.

But it was not clear whether Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, spiritual adviser to Israel’s powerful Shas Party, gave his blessing to an attack after meeting Netanyahu’s adviser Yaakov Amidror last week.

Shas, a key part of Netanyahu’s coalition government, is believed to have crucial influence over whether Israel will strike Iran.

Yosef, a former Israeli chief rabbi for Jews of Mid dle East origins, is often consulted on military and other matters by Israeli leaders, and the meeting last week indicates that Netanyahu is getting closer to making a decision.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ramped up the tension yesterday by unveiling an upgraded version of a shortrange surfacetosurface ballistic missile.

The new version of the Fateh110 missile has a quicker launch capability and longer life, and can be used in bad weather conditions, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Iran claimed earlier this month that it had successfully testfired the missile.

Ahmadinejad said Iran’s military advances would dissuade world powers from imposing their will on Iran.

“I have no doubt that our defensive capabilities can stand up to bullying and put a halt to their plans,” he said.

Iran also announced the start of construction of an air defense in the southern Abadeh region, about 130 miles from its suspected uraniumenrichment facility in Isfahan.

“If [the enemy] ever has the intent of attacking this soil, we will make the Persian Gulf their grave,” Abadeh Gov. Mohammad Javad Askari was quoted as saying at a ceremony marking the start of construction at the site.