LONDON — Shaul Mofaz, the Israeli defense minister, is not a fan of Mohammed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. In fact, he wants him fired. "The policies followed by ElBaradei endanger world peace. His irresponsible attitude of sticking his head in the sand over Iran's nuclear program should lead to his impeachment," Mofaz said during a visit to Washington in early November.
Mofaz was getting his retaliation in first. As he foresaw, the IAEA director's report on Iran's uranium-enrichment program, released Nov. 14, said Tehran was years away from an ability to make nuclear weapons.
Not only that, ElBaradei said Iran is complying with a work plan agreed with the IAEA last August to clear up the remaining questions about a project that the Iranians insist was only ever about making fuel for civilian nuclear power stations. How can you bomb a country, or even impose serious sanctions on it, if the head of the IAEA won't accuse it of seeking nuclear weapons?