No Israeli Attack on Iran this Year?

From the Jerusalem Post:

A possible military confrontation with Iran may be postponed until 2013, senior defense officials said in recent weeks amid growing signs that the West’s economic crackdown on Iran is bearing fruit.

In addition, while skeptical, the defense establishment is waiting to see what the outcome will be of the talks expected to begin in mid-April between the Islamic Republic and the P5+1 group comprised of the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia and China.

“It could happen this year, but also 2013 is a possibility,” a senior official said recently. “We will need to wait to see the effect sanctions and diplomacy have on Iran and what the regime decides to do.”

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu acknowledged that sanctions were hurting Iran but that it was not yet clear if they would succeed in ultimately stopping Tehran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon.

What could potentially change Israel’s timeline would be an Iranian decision to begin enriching uranium to higher military-grade levels and to begin building a bomb.

I keep hoping that the longer this is dragged out, the less likely it is that somebody will do something crazy in a moment of passion.