Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem August 12, 2012. Iran has stepped up work to develop a nuclear warhead, Israeli newspapers said on Sunday, citing officials in Netanyahu's government and leaked U.S. intelligence. 
 
 JERUSALEMPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that most threats to Israel's security were "dwarfed" by the prospect of Iran obtaining nuclear weaponry, which local media reports charged Tehran had stepped up its efforts to achieve. 
 
 The comments at a weekly cabinet meeting and the front-page reports in the liberal Haaretz, a frequent Netanyahu critic, and in the conservative, pro-government Israel Hayom came as Israeli debate intensified about whether to go to war against Iran - and soon - over its disputed atomic projects. 
 
 The debate seemed to defy appeals by U.S. President Barack Obama, seeking re-election in November, to allow more time for international diplomacy. Tehran says its nuclear ambitions are peaceful and has threatened wide-ranging reprisals if attacked. 
 
 In comments also broadcast live by Israeli media, Netanyahu said that "all the threats currently being directed against the Israeli home front are dwarfed by another threat, different in scope, different in substance." 
 
 "Therefore I say again, that Iran must not be permitted to obtain nuclear weapons," Netanyahu said. 
 
 Netanyahu also said Israel was "investing billions in home-front defense," and holding emergency drills, alluding to a military exercise being held this week in cities across Israel to test a text message warning system against missile strikes. 
 
 Israel's central bank has also drilled "big crisis" scenarios such as war with Iran, the bank's governor, Stanley Fischer, told an Israeli television station at the weekend. 
 
 The cabinet adopted rules on Sunday intended to streamline decision-making, such as by setting deadlines for permitting ministers to change their minds about votes, though Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser insisted these changes were not expressly meant for "any particular type of decision." 
 
 'BOOSTED' NUCLEAR EFFORTS 
 
 Citing an unnamed senior Israeli official, the Haaretz daily said a new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) compiled by the Obama administration included a "last-minute update" about significant Iranian progress in the development of a nuclear warhead "far beyond the scope known" to U.N. inspectors. 
 
 The Israel Hayom daily reported NIE findings that Iran had "boosted efforts" to advance its nuclear program, including work to develop ballistic missile warheads, and said U.S. and Israeli assessments largely tallied on this intelligence. 
 
 Neither newspaper provided direct quotes or detailed evidence. For Haaretz, it was the second report since Thursday purporting to draw on a new NIE. 
 
 Washington has not commented on whether such an NIE exists. But its officials say the U.S. intelligence assessment remains that the Islamic Republic is undecided on whether to build a bomb and is years away from any such nuclear capability. 
 
 Widely reputed to have the region's sole atomic arsenal, the Jewish state sees a nuclear-armed Iran as a mortal threat and has long threatened to attack its arch-foe preemptively. 
 
 The war talk is meant, partly, to stiffen sanctions on Tehran by conflict-wary world powers. Some commentators have speculated Netanyahu is bluffing. 
 
 Others see a bid to win over those in the Israeli cabinet, military and public who oppose resorting to force now given the big tactical and strategic risks involved. 
 
 Some Israeli leaders criticized the debate as too high-profile, fearing the public exposure could damage Israeli security interests. Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz called it "reckless" to discuss the issue so openly in the media. 
 
 Visiting Israel this month, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta met unusually vocal dissent from Netanyahu over international Iran strategy. The allies have generally sought to play down their differences on the matter. 
 
 (Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan and Dan Williams; Editing by Jon Hemming) ||||| EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on leaving the office to report, film or take pictures in Tehran. Iranian soldiers march in formation during the Army Day military parade in Tehran April 18, 2011. 
 
 DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran makes no distinction between U.S. and Israeli interests and will retaliate against both countries if attacked, an Iranian military commander said on Wednesday. 
 
 The comments came after the White House denied an Israeli news report that it was negotiating with Tehran to keep out of a future Israel-Iran war and as U.S. President Barack Obama fends off accusations from his election rival that he is too soft on Tehran. 
 
 "The Zionist regime separated from America has no meaning, and we must not recognize Israel as separate from America," Ali Fadavi, naval commander in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency. 
 
 "On this basis, today only the Americans have taken a threatening stance towards the Islamic Republic," Fadavi said. "If the Americans commit the smallest folly they will not leave the region safely." 
 
 Iran - which has missiles that could reach Israel and U.S. targets in the region - has conducted military exercises and unveiled upgraded weapons in recent months, aiming to show it can defend itself against any strike against its nuclear sites. 
 
 Israel - thought to be the only country in the Middle East with nuclear weapons - says the prospect of a nuclear armed Iran would pose a threat to its existence. Tehran denies it is developing weapons and says its nuclear program is peaceful. 
 
 With the approach of U.S. elections in November, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for a tougher stance against Iran - implicitly knocking Obama's emphasis on diplomatic and sanctions pressure to halt Iranian nuclear work. 
 
 While Israel would expect U.S. backing if it decided to strike Iran, the top U.S. general has suggested Washington would not be drawn into a conflict. 
 
 "I don't want to be complicit if they choose to do it," Britain's Guardian newspaper quoted Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey as saying. 
 
 Netanyahu abruptly ended a meeting of Israel's security cabinet on Wednesday, saying someone in the forum had leaked details of its discussions on Iran. 
 
 Any decision to go to war against Iran would, by Israeli law, require the approval of the security cabinet. One government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said no such decisions had been on the table at Tuesday's meeting. 
 
 (Reporting By Yeganeh Torbati; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
– Syria descending into civil war, the Arab Spring, instability in Egypt—the Middle East is full of uncertainties that threaten Israel, but all of them are "dwarfed" by Iran's nuclear threat, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last night, reports Reuters. Netanyahu's comments were broadcast live by Israel's media, and published in both right- and left-wing newspapers, as debate grows in Israel over whether the country needs to go to war with Iran. "I say again that Iran must not be permitted to obtain nuclear weapons," Netanyahu said. Pressure is building in Israel to take action, especially with yesterday's disclosure that a new intelligence report presented to President Obama shows that Iran's nuclear program has made developments "far beyond the scope known" by UN inspectors, according to the left-leaning newspaper Haaretz. Washington officials would not comment on whether such a report even exists, but they maintain that Iran is undecided about its nuclear weapons program and remains years away from having nuclear capability. Some analysts think Netanyahu's talk is posturing designed to keep the pressure on for sanctions against Iran, while others see it largely as a domestic political strategy.