JERUSALEM, Feb 9 (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for immediate and crippling sanctions against Iran on Tuesday, on the day it began making higher-grade nuclear fuel. "Iran is racing forward to produce nuclear weapons … I believe that what is required right now is tough action by the international community," Netanyahu told European diplomats. "This means crippling sanctions and these sanctions must be applied right now," he said in an address to the envoys that dealt only with the Iranian issue. Earlier, Iranian state television quoted Iran’s nuclear energy chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, as saying that uranium enrichment to 20 percent had started in the Natanz facility under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency. This followed a failure to agree terms for a proposed nuclear swap with major powers, under which Iran would send most of its low-enriched uranium abroad in return for such fuel. Iran currently enriches uranium to a level of 3.5 percent while 80 percent or more is needed for a nuclear bomb. Despite Iranian denials, Western powers fear Iran is enriching uranium with a view to producing atomic weapons. Israel is widely believed to be the Middle East’s only nuclear power. The Pentagon has said the United States wants the U.N. Security Council to approve a resolution "within weeks, not months", laying the ground for new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme. They would be the fourth set of sanctions. "I think what is required is a lot more than words," Netanyahu said. "Iran is racing forward to produce nuclear weapons in brazen defiance of the international community, and the international community must decide if it is serious about neutralising this threat to Israel, the region and the entire world," he said. (Writing by Jeffrey Heller, Editing by Ori Lewis) (For blogs and links on Israeli politics and other Israeli and Palestinian news, go to blogs.reuters.com/axismundi)

JERUSALEM, Feb 5 (Reuters) – Israel’s new rocket-interceptor system will not be deployed near the Gaza Strip as expected but kept on standby, possibly to counter attacks from the north by Lebanese Hezbollah should conflict erupt with its backer, Iran. News this week on deployment of "Iron Dome", a short-range system to be ready by June, disappointed Israelis in southern towns who hoped it would be set up to protect them from rockets fired by Gaza’s Islamist Hamas fighters. Less than a month ago, Defence Minister Ehud Barak said the rocket shield would have its first deployment on the Gaza front. But this week officials changed tack and said they had to think of placing it elsewhere, notably facing Lebanon. "At the moment there is quiet (in Gaza) that is based on deterrence, which has to be examined every day of course because it could change, and Hamas’s basic hostility toward Israel has not changed," said Defence Ministry official Amos Gilad. "There are also other sectors. There is the Lebanon sector," he told Israel Radio. "If deterrence is not working, then we have to think what measures to use." Produced by state-owned Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd., Iron Dome uses small radar-guided missiles to blow up Katyusha-style rockets with ranges of between 5 km (3 miles) and 70 km (45 miles), as well as mortar bombs, mid-air. Its development was spurred by the 2006 conflict in Lebanon with Hezbollah and the Gaza Strip war against Hamas a year ago, in both of which Israeli towns within reach of short-range rockets were in some respects defenceless. BIGGER ROCKETS IN NORTH While the north has gone quiet, sporadic fire still pesters towns inland from Gaza. The rockets are inaccurate and only rarely inflict damage or injury. But each firing triggers a loud alert, sending people rushing to shelters and keeping nerves on edge in towns such as Sderot. The left-wing Israeli daily Haaretz on Friday said Sderot was looking forward to the rocket shield but "the townspeople’s expectations that they would be the first to be protected by Iron Dome have been shattered". In an editorial, however, the paper said: "Get real, Iron Dome is too expensive to defend Sderot". "The cost of producing launchers and missiles against cheap rockets is extremely high", it said, noting that Hezbollah has bigger rockets and may present a greater potential threat. Gaza is under a tight Israeli blockade and Hamas is likely to exercise caution, after the blitz by Israel a year ago that killed 1,400 Palestinians — a majority civilians — in three weeks while 13 Israelis, mostly soldiers, lost their lives. But Israeli military planners are wary of the north, where Hezbollah, a larger force with greater reach, killed 43 Israeli civilians in strikes during the month-long war in 2006. Israeli generals "were wrong … to scorn the enemy’s rockets and missiles" in the Lebanon war, Haaretz commented. Unlike Hamas, the Lebanese Shi’ite guerrillas are not easily cut off from re-supply. They are widely believed to have replenished their arsenal with Syrian and Iranian help. Should Israel carry out its threat to attack Iran’s nuclear sites if sanctions fail to derail a suspected atom bomb project, Hezbollah might retaliate in support of its ally in Tehran. Hamas, while also sponsored by Iran, is less likely to join a proxy war and is weaker militarily, Israeli officials say. Two Iron Dome batteries are currently under construction, a defence official said. Designed to be towed by vehicle, they will be available for any Israeli front at a few hours’ notice. The decision to keep the system "on standby" could of course point to a perception that there is no immediate need to commit it to either front.(Editing by Douglas Hamilton and Samia Nakhoul) (For blogs and links on Israeli politics and other Israeli and Palestinian news, go to blogs.reuters.com/axismundi)

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel and the United States are closely conferring about the Iranian nuclear program, U.S. National Security Adviser Jim Jones said in an interview published Sunday, calling Israel’s conduct “responsible.”

Western governments fear that Iran wants to produce nuclear weapons but Tehran says the program is for peaceful purposes. Iran has vowed to respond to any unilateral Israeli strike over the nuclear program.

The five permanent Security Council members — the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China — along with Germany have been negotiating with Iran, but U.S. officials say drafts of possible sanctions should circulate among the group soon.

Jones said the United States and Israel are in close coordination over how to handle Iran. “We have very good dialogue with Israel, continual dialogue,” he told The Jerusalem Post. “We’re working very closely with them.”

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – A Hamas commander killed in Dubai was targeted by Israel for his role in smuggling “special weapons” to the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Islamist group said on Sunday.

Israel’s government declined official comment on the January 20 death of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, which Hamas on Friday announced as an assassination. But Israeli security sources linked him to rockets and other arms that reach Gaza from Iran.

Police in the United Arab Emirates said they suspected a foreign “criminal gang” of killing Mabhouh in his hotel room, while not ruling out involvement of Israel’s Mossad spy agency.

Hamas spokesman Talal Nasser told the UAE newspaper The National that Mabhouh had “played a key role in supplying the Palestinian people with weapons and money,” including “special weapons” for his native Gaza, where Israel waged war a year ago.

GAZA/JERUSALEM, Jan 31 (Reuters) – A Hamas commander killed in Dubai was targeted by Israel for his role in smuggling "special weapons" to the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Islamist group said on Sunday. Israel’s government declined official comment on the Jan. 20 death of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, which Hamas on Friday announced as an assassination. But Israeli security sources linked him to rockets and other arms that reach Gaza from Iran. Police in the United Arab Emirates said they suspected a foreign "criminal gang" of killing Mabhouh in his hotel room, while not ruling out involvement of Israel’s Mossad spy agency. Hamas spokesman Talal Nasser told the UAE newspaper The National that Mabhouh had "played a key role in supplying the Palestinian people with weapons and money", including "special weapons" for his native Gaza, where Israel waged war a year ago. A source close to Hamas in Gaza told Reuters: "I believe the issue of weapons he used to provide Hamas and (Palestinian) resistance factions was the reason behind his being targeted." The source added that such weapons generally come from Iran or Sudan, countries with ties to Islamist groups. Nasser said that Mabhouh had been vulnerable in Dubai because, unlike during other trips, he had used a passport bearing his real name and had travelled without bodyguards. "His murder is not a victory for Israel," he said. "The blood of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh will spawn a thousand more like him." Destroying Hamas’s rocket arsenal, and securing foreign help in stopping smuggling, were among Israel’s declared aims in the Gaza war. Egypt has since begun erecting a barrier to block Palestinian tunnels under its border with the blockaded strip. Israel says its arch-foe Iran bankrolls attempts to ship weapons to Gaza by sea or land routes leading to the Egyptian Sinai. Iran says its support for Hamas is diplomatic only. ARMED OPERATIONS Hamas officials have declined to say what Mabhouh, who had long lived in the Syrian capital Damascus, was doing in the Gulf — though a Hamas source said he was active in armed operations "until the moment of his assassination". He left Gaza in 1989, pursued by Israel for his role in the abduction and killing of two of its soldiers. The Mossad is believed to have stepped up missions against Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia and Iran’s nuclear project. Among killings attributed to the agency were that of Hezbollah commander Imad Moughniyeh in Damascus two years ago. A former Mossad officer, Ram Yigra, suggested that Mabhouh may have fallen foul of criminal arms dealers rather than Israel. "In the end of the day, Mr. Mabhouh was into arms smuggling, which means shady relationships," he told Israel’s Army Radio. Fayek al-Mabouh, the dead man’s brother, said however: "He wasn’t involved in any gang. He wasn’t involved in any crime … So who had an interest in killing him? Israel." Yigra noted the varying accounts of Mabhouh’s death, which included a UAE media report that he had been tortured by his killers, Palestinian poisoning allegations and a suggestion by Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar that the assassins accompanied an Israeli cabinet minister who visited Abu Dhabi on Jan. 15-17. The UAE does not have a peace treaty with Israel but has hosted Israeli officials and does business with Israeli firms. Israel rocked its relations with Jordan when assassins botched an attempt to poison Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Amman in 1997. Ex-spy Yigra said the Mossad had learned its lessons about the need for discretion. "When there cannot be foul-ups, then the thing is done quickly — and not in the course of torture and suchlike. And using visiting politicians (as cover) is not done," he said. (Writing by Dan Williams; editing by Andrew Roche)

JERUSALEM, Jan 31 (Reuters) – A Hamas commander killed in Dubai played a key role in smuggling Iranian-funded arms to Gaza, Israeli security sources said on Sunday, while refusing to comment on accusations that Israel was behind his death. Hamas said on Friday that Israel’s Mossad spy agency had assassinated Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in his hotel room on Jan. 20, a possibility police in the United Arab Emirates did not rule out, though they said they suspected a foreign "criminal gang". Israel’s government would not officially comment, but its media were unanimous in linking Mabhouh to the Gaza arms supply. One Israeli security source said on Sunday Mabhouh had been "key" to Hamas efforts to smuggle rockets and other arms into his native Gaza Strip, ruled by the Palestinian Islamist faction and whose borders with Israel and Egypt are under blockade. "He was a strategic asset for Hamas when it came to its armament by Iran," the source said. Israel accuses Iran of supplying weapons to Hamas by sea and land routes such as Sudan and Egypt. Iran calls its support for Hamas diplomatic only. Hamas officials have declined to say what Mabhouh, who had long lived in the Syrian capital Damascus, was doing in the Gulf or what his role was. They called him a senior military figure and one Hamas source said he was working right up to his death. Destroying Hamas’s rocket arsenal, and securing foreign help in stopping smuggling, were among the declared aims of Israel’s war on Gaza a year ago. Egypt has since begun erecting a barrier to block Palestinian smuggler tunnels along its Gaza frontier. In its first announcement of Mabhouh’s death on Friday, Hamas officials in Damascus said he had long felt he could be targeted in retaliation for his involvement in the 1989 abduction and killing of two Israeli soldiers. Mossad is widely believed to have stepped up covert missions against Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia, and Iran’s nuclear project. Among killings attributed to Mossad were that of Hezbollah commander Imad Moughniyeh in Damascus two years ago. "SHADY RELATIONSHIPS" A former Mossad officer, Ram Yigra, said he had no knowledge of the circumstances of Mabhouh’s death but suggested the Hamas commander may have fallen foul of arms dealers. "In the end of the day, Mr. Mabhouh was into arms smuggling, which means shady relationships," he told Israel’s Army Radio. "It’s certainly reasonable to assume that the one who took him out was one of his various business partners, because such business does not happen without a lot of money being pocketed." A brother of Mabhouh brushed off that theory. "He had no problems. He had no fight. He wasn’t involved in any gang. He wasn’t involved in any crime," Fayek al-Mabhouh told the radio station from Gaza. "So who had an interest in killing him? Israel." Yigra noted the varying accounts of Mabhouh’s death, which included a UAE newspaper report that he had been tortured by his killers, Palestinian poisoning allegations and a suggestion by Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar that the assassins accompanied an Israeli cabinet minister who visited Abu Dhabi on Jan. 15-17. The UAE does not have a peace treaty with Israel but has hosted Israeli officials and does business with Israeli firms. Israel rocked relations with Jordan when assassins botched an attempt to poison Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Amman in 1997. Ex-spy Yigra said Mossad had learned its lessons about the need for discretion: "When there cannot be foul-ups, then the thing is done quickly — and not in the course of torture and suchlike. And using visiting politicians (as cover) is not done." (Writing by Dan Williams; editing by Alastair Macdonald)

HERZLIYA, Israel (Reuters) – World powers must find ways to reduce the amount of debris in orbit, as the collision risk it poses to spacecraft is increasing, the head of the U.S. Strategic Command said on Wednesday.

Air Force General Kevin Chilton, a former astronaut, told an Israeli audience that the United States has catalogued more than 15,000 items such as jettisoned rockets, shuttle detritus, and bits of destroyed satellites currently floating in space.

“The estimation is that these numbers could grow upward of 50,000 in total numbers in the not-too-distant future,” he said, adding that this could make low-earth orbit “uninhabitable to man or machine.”

The amount of debris has increased exponentially, according to Chilton, due to events like China’s 2007 shooting down of a defunct satellite, and last year’s collision of an old Russian military satellite and a telecoms satellite owned by Iridium.

HERZLIYA, Israel, Jan 27 (Reuters) – World powers must find ways to reduce the amount of debris in orbit, as the collision risk it poses to spacecraft is increasing, the head of the U.S. Strategic Command said on Wednesday.

Air Force General Kevin Chilton, a former astronaut, told an Israeli audience that the United States has catalogued more than 15,000 items such as jettisoned rockets, shuttle detritus, and bits of destroyed satellites currently floating in space.

“The estimation is that these numbers could grow upward of 50,000 in total numbers in the not-too-distant future,” he said, adding that this could make low-earth orbit “uninhabitable to man or machine”.

The amount of debris has increased exponentially, according to Chilton, due to events like China’s 2007 shooting down of a defunct satellite, and last year’s collision of an old Russian military satellite and a telecoms satellite owned by Iridium.

HERZLIYA, Israel, Jan 27 (Reuters) – World powers must find ways to reduce the amount of debris in orbit, as the collision risk it poses to spacecraft is increasing, the head of the U.S. Strategic Command said on Wednesday. Air Force General Kevin Chilton, a former astronaut, told an Israeli audience that the United States has catalogued more than 15,000 items such as jettisoned rockets, shuttle detritus, and bits of destroyed satellites currently floating in space. "The estimation is that these numbers could grow upward of 50,000 in total numbers in the not-too-distant future," he said, adding that this could make low-earth orbit "uninhabitable to man or machine". The amount of debris has increased exponentially, according to Chilton, due to events like China’s 2007 shooting down of a defunct satellite, and last year’s collision of an old Russian military satellite and a telecoms satellite owned by Iridium. In what was widely seen as an effort to achieve parity with China, the United States in 2008 blew up a target satellite using the Aegis missile interceptor. The Aegis is now the backbone of a planned U.S. ballistic shield for Eastern Europe. Chilton said the increasing clutter raised the spectre of a "cascade" whereby debris causes collisions, which in turn creates more debris. Chilton said major powers should agree on a "responsible space operation", improve their spacecraft to keep debris to a minimum, and share data on possible risks. "The U.S. has quite an extensive array of sensors … but even that is not enough," he said in his address to the Fisher Institute for Air & Space Strategic Studies, near Tel Aviv. "We need to improve our space surveillance capabilities." But Chilton made clear that, for now, containment was the only option, in the absence of a means of elimination. "Today, the way we eliminate space debris is we wait for it to come down" and burn up on reentry through the atmosphere, he said. Chilton, whose responsibilities include ballistic missile defence and cyber warfare as well as space operations, spent three days in Israel, an aide said. As well as visiting academic forums, he held talks with researchers at Israel’s Defence Ministry, an official involved in the visit said, without giving details. (Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Diana Abdallah)

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel has prepared a rebuttal to a U.N. report censuring its conduct in the Gaza war, Israeli officials said on Sunday, arguing the United Nations’ findings were so unfair as to have fueled a global wave of anti-Semitism.

Issued in September by a panel under South African jurist Richard Goldstone, the non-binding report cited evidence Israel had unlawfully targeted Palestinian civilians and gave it six months to investigate — or risk prosecution in foreign courts.

Israel had boycotted the panel and brushed off its findings, calling them biased in favor of Gaza’s Hamas rulers.

But Israeli officials have voiced worry that the suspicions raised, if unaddressed, could hobble future military operations.