Israel Tempers Doubt On Policy

JERUSALEM - -When President Barack Obama announced efforts to curb Iran's nuclear program through diplomatic engagement, the concern in Israel was that open-ended talks would allow the Islamic republic time to continue toward its suspected goal of developing a nuclear weapon.

But as that engagement took its first major step Thursday in meetings in Geneva, the Israelis are tempering their doubts.

The recent disclosure of a second Iranian uranium-enrichment plant appears to have stiffened the resolve of the United States and other Western powers, Israeli officials and analysts said. While many here see the plant's existence as proof that the Iranians were moving beyond an energy program to produce bomb-grade uranium, the United States' apparent new determination has alleviated some fears that the talks would lead nowhere.

"Most people in Israel were a little surprised by the new tactics Obama was proposing. He wanted to engage Iran, seemingly hopeful that by offering carrots and not wielding a stick he could do business with them," said former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Arens. "I think now that the president and the people around him have been disabused of this view."

Israeli Foreign Ministry and other officials declined to comment on the Geneva meetings - a message in itself in a country that considers Iran a chief security concern.

"There is a sense in the past few days that the concern of the international community has gone up a step," said Emily Landau, director of the arms control and regional security program at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University. "Israel is waiting to see what happens."