Israeli FM to join high-level talks in U.S.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is slated to travel to the United States on Sunday evening, where he is expected to meet with his counterpart, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and other officials. Lieberman will tell his hosts, inter alia, that "there's a feeling in Israel that sanctions against Iran are well-received and we welcome their implementation," a Foreign Ministry official told Xinhua Sunday. However, the official cautioned that the slow pace of putting banking and other measures into place "will allow Iran to move forward with critical element of their weapons program." His words echoed those of a series of senior Israeli officials, who in recent days have publicly ratcheted up warnings of a potential Israeli military strike to foil Teheran's clandestine nuclear arms program. "Today, unlike in the past, there is widespread global understanding that if the sanctions don't achieve their goal of halting Iran's nuclear weapons program, there will arise the need of weighing an operation," Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Thursday at a major political-defense strategy conference here. In an address to the Herzliya Conference, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz, said that Israel "must be willing to deploy" to stop Iran. In addition to suggesting a tightening of sanctions, Lieberman will broach the option of taking steps to help bring about the fall of the current Iranian government, according to Israel Radio. No matter what options are decided upon in Israel and abroad, " One thing is clear," Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said last week. "If Iran becomes nuclear then it's the end of world order as we know it ... This is what we have to think about, and not about what will happen in case some action is being taken," Ayalon said. Lieberman also plans to meet with U.S. Senators and Congressional representatives during the week-long visit, among them Florida Republican, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the ministry official said. As the House's ranking Republican, Ros-Lehtinen also chairs the influential House Foreign Affairs Committee, and is considered a strong conservative supporter of Israel, who she has called "an indispensable ally and friend of the United States."