Israel test-fires nuclear missile capable of reaching Iran

ISRAEL has successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable missile able to reach Iran, fuelling a debate over whether it is agitating for a military attack on Tehran’s atomic facilities.

While Israeli leaders have long warned that a military strike was an option, the most intensive round of public discourse on the subject was ignited over the weekend by a report that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Ehud Barak favour an attack.

That was followed by another that said Netanyahu is now lobbying cabinet members for an attack, despite the complexity of the operation and the high likelihood it would draw a deadly retaliation from Iran.