Ignatius said Panetta ‘believes there is a strong likelihood that Israel will strike Iran in April, May or June before Iran enters what Israelis described as a “zone of immunity” to commence building a nuclear bomb.’  When asked about the statement, Panetta refused to comment, but added that ‘Israel indicated they’re considering this (a strike), we’ve indicated our concerns.’

In related news, yesterday Defence Minister Ehud Barak said during an address to the Herzliya Policy Conference that if sanctions on Iran’s nuclear programme are ineffective, then military action against the Islamic Republic must be considered. “Today, unlike in the past, there is widespread international belief that it is vital to prevent Iran from becoming ‘nuclear’ and that no option should be taken off the table,” Barak said.

Several other Israeli officials speaking at the conference, including Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Yaalon and IDF Intelligence Chief Aviv Kohavi, reiterated Barak’s remarks.

‘A package is being worked on,’ one official in the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed to the Post. ‘The idea is not for Israeli unilateral confidence-building measures. Rather, we are ready [to act] within the framework of a peace process that is working for mutual confidence measures. We are looking at options and are preparing a package.’  The official added that the matters under consideration ‘are primarily economic issues.’

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met in Jordan on five occasions last month. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to decide whether to continue exploratory talks in Amman this weekend when he meets with Arab League Foreign Ministers.

‘We had what I would characterise as sometimes difficult but ultimately useful discussions,’ US Ambassador Susan Rice told reporters yesterday. ‘We’re still working. This is not done.’ Rice added the Moroccans, who submitted the original draft, would come back with another version that could be voted on over the next few days, adding ‘there are still complicated issues that our capitals will have to deliberate on and provide each of us with instructions on.’ Russia’s Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said ‘we’ll see what the reaction of the capitals will be. They’re assessing the situation. We’ll see what the outcome is going to be.’

Before the talks, Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby said yesterday that even a watered-down resolution would pressure the Syrian government. Nevertheless, the draft in discussion yesterday had dropped demands from an Arab League plan for Syria to form a unity government and for President Bashar Assad to delegate power to his deputy.  According to UN diplomats, the change reflected a big concession to Russia, which has been reluctant to sign on to any plan that could be seen as a mandate for regime change in Damascus. Russia has made clear on numerous previous occasions it will not accept an arms embargo or economic sanctions against its long-time ally Syria.

Meanwhile, at least 70 people were killed across Syria on Wednesday, opposition activists said, with three more deaths reported Thursday. The United Nations estimated in December that more than 5,000 people have died in the Syrian unrest since March.

Earlier in the day, Netanyahu conveyed a similar message in meetings with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle and Quartet envoy Tony Blair. Ban told Netanyahu that Israel must make confidence-building gestures toward the Palestinians in order for them to continue talks. According to Israeli media reports, Netanyahu said he would consider such steps if he could be sure the PA would not break off the talks again in a few weeks. Maariv reports this morning that confidence-building measures planned by Netanyahu include increasing Palestinian civilian and security control in parts of the West Bank and allowing construction materials into Gaza for the building of 1000 residential units.

Later yesterday, the UN Secretary General and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle met with PA President Abbas in Ramallah. During his press conference with Ban, Abbas was unenthusiastic about the chances of continuing talks, saying Israel had not presented “any encouraging proposal that we could advance with.” The official Palestinian Wafa news agency quoted Abbas as telling Germany’s FM Westerwelle that he would only return to talks once Israel had committed on the issue of borders and initiating another settlement freeze.

Abbas will meet with Arab League foreign ministers in the coming days to discuss the talks with Israel.

In unconnected news, seven rockets fell in open fields in the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council in southern Israel last night, triggering a series of Red Alert rocket alarms. There were no injuries or damages reported.

Gantz did add, however, that a determined international campaign, including harsh sanctions and isolation of Iran from the global economy, could succeed in convincing the Islamic republic to abandon its nuclear programme.

Speaking on Thursday morning at Herzliya conference, IDF’s head of intelligence Aviv Kochavi reiterated Gantz saying once Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei makes a decision to ‘breakout’ to nuclear weapons capability, it would take a year for Iran to build a crude nuclear device, and another year for it to have nuclear warhead.

In related news, the International Atomic Energy Agency said yesterday it would hold a second round of talks with Iran on 21 and 22 February over concerns that it was working on developing a nuclear weapon. A senior team from the IAEA returned to Vienna yesterday after three days of talks in Tehran.

Despite the agreement, Fatah and Hamas have failed to make progress toward ending their dispute. The two parties have yet to agree on the make-up of a unity government and other issues related to security and elections. A key issue of dispute remains the identity of the interim-prime minister who would head a new unity government. Hamas have refused to accept current PA Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad, a western educated economist, popular in the West for his state building programme in the West Bank, as head of the proposed unity government. According to Palestinian news reports, Hamas have recently suggested that Ziad Abu Amr, an independent legislator from the Gaza Strip, who is also acceptable to Fatah, head the unity government. Abbas’s decision to push forward the unity agreement and advance the timetable to elections is likely to depend on the outcome of his forthcoming meeting with Arab League ministers, at which he will decide whether or not to continue peace talks with Israel.

Following yesterday’s vote, speculation continued to mount of a possible general election this year. According to senior ministers, cited across the Israeli media, Netanyahu has in the past considered moving up election to October 2012 – a year ahead of when elections are due. However, contrary to expectation, not only did Netanyahu not announce a general election late last night, he predicted that there was “still time” before general elections would take place.

Despite Netanyahu’s remarks, high-ranking ministers in Likud, cited in a Yedioth Ahronoth report, have said that the PM has held meetings on moving the election date forward and has indicated that the issue would be examined following the results of the Kadima primary expected in late March.

Concerns in Israel have been steadily mounting that unrest in Syria could lead to advanced weaponry finding its way to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Several types of advanced weapons have been transferred to Hezbollah in the past, but remain in Syria to reduce the possibility of Israel targeting them.

However, the ongoing deterioration within Syria and the possibility of the collapse of the Assad regime has raised the possibility that these weapons could now be moved into Lebanon. The weapons in question include a large quantity of long-range rockets, advanced anti-aircraft and, above all others, chemical weapons.  Syria is the country with the largest stores of chemical weapons in the Middle East, some of which are extremely lethal, such as Sarin and VX agents.

Currently, troops close to the regime closely supervise these weapons but Assad may, in fear of losing power or under pressure from Iran, order his the transfer of some of those weapons to Lebanon, which is now perceived as being more stable than Syria. “Syria, which used to be an island of stability, is turning into a torn country in which battles are raging, and Lebanon is proving to be the more stable part of the equation,” said the high-ranking official to Israel Hayom.

Peres also spoke on the peace process, saying that its recommencement would be the best way for Israel to take advantage of the Arab Spring and the changes rocking the Middle East. “Israel is not the cause of these revolutions… This isn’t an Israeli question but an Arab one. It doesn’t depend on us but it does affect us,” he said. “The only way… is to reach an Israeli-Palestinian accord like we did with Egypt and Jordan. I say this because I believe an agreement is possible.”

Peres was followed by Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan, who joined the conference at the IDC Herzliya via video from Amman. Hassan – the brother of Jordan’s late King Hussein and uncle of its current monarch Abdullah II – echoed Peres’s remarks in calling for a renewal of the peace process: “Peace has never been an easy ride for any of us,” he said, “But the comradeship between Muslims, Christians and Jews has existed for longer than has conflict.”

Despite Russian opposition to a resolution on Syria, Clinton said that she would travel to the UN today to ‘send a clear message of support to the Syrian people: we stand with you.’ Clinton then added that the ‘Security Council must act and make clear to the Syrian regime that the world community views its actions as a threat to peace and security. The violence must end, so that a new period of democratic transition can begin.’

Clinton will join other top officials including Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi, British Foreign Secretary William Hague and French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe at today’s Security Council meeting, which comes as violence continues in Syria.

Nevertheless, Russia, the main military supplier to Syria, has said that it will use its veto against a draft Security Council resolution. Furthermore, a Russian diplomatic source, according to a report in AFP, has said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will most likely not attend the Security Council meetings.

According to figures from the UN, more than 5,400 people have died in Syria – including 80 on Sunday alone, as Assad’s crack down on protesters continues.