Israel says 'I told you so' on Iran

ISRAEL may well be the only country in the world delighted by WikiLeaks - jubilant, in fact.

Officials can barely contain their glee that, finally, what they say repeatedly - that Iran's nuclear program is a problem for the entire Middle East - is acknowledged.

"The documents show many sources backing Israel's assessments, particularly of Iran," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Association of Tel Aviv Journalists yesterday.

Indeed, one of the first comments a government official made to The Australian at the event was: "Israel has been saying this for years, and now it's in black and white."

The documents show three Arab countries - Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Jordan - privately urging the US to attack Iran.

There are some awkward documents for Israel - the US makes a gloomy assessment of Israel's political situation under the previous Olmert government. In January 2007, a US diplomat wrote to then secretary of state Condoleezza Rice saying: "Internal tensions among GOI (government of Israel) leaders have intensified since your last visit and have reached the point that there appears to be little co-ordination or even dialogue among the key decision-makers."

And Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak is quoted as saying Mr Netanyahu is charming and elegant "but never keeps his word".

Yesterday, Mr Netanyahu was concentrating on Iran, which Israel has been trying to push ahead of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for two years.

"The greatest threat to peace is the Iranian regime's arming race, and what is most important is that many leaders and governments in the Middle East realise this threat," he said.

"There is a gap between what is said publicly and what is said behind closed doors. Leaders realise there is a new threat and a new understanding.

"I don't remember there was such understanding in the Middle East. I hope leaders will have the courage to tell their people what they said about Iran publicly."

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday dismissed the cables divulged by WikiLeaks as US "mischief" aimed at destabilising an already volatile region. "These documents are prepared and released by the US government in a planned manner in pursuance of an aim. It is part of an intelligence warfare and will not have their desired political impact," he said.