14:34 Turkish PM accuses Assad of ‘state terrorism’ (AP) 
 
 14:00 Rebels say they shot down fighter jet over northern Syria (Reuters) 
 
 13:38 Morsi to Assad: ‘Now is the time for change, you will not stay [in power] for long’ (DPA) 
 
 13:18 Morsi: Israel is not interested in peace with the Palestinians (Ch. 10) 
 
 12:38 Netanyahu cuts short security cabinet meeting, citing information leak (Haaretz) 
 
 11:16 Islamist extremist group says Hamas arrested 20 of its members in crackdown on rocket fire (AP) 
 
 10:18 IDF begins evacuation of Migron caravans, demolition to follow (Haaretz) 
 
 09:04 China backs ‘political transition’ in Syria, says Chinese FM (Reuters) 
 
 07:50 IDF Home Front Command drill to take place at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem (Army Radio) 
 
 04:31 Congressman Howard Berman: U.S. must always stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel (Haaretz) 
 
 03:11 Past-Romney rival Edward Moore 'Ted' Kennedy calls to support Barack Obama (Haaretz) 
 
 01:20 Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan vows to 'flood' streets to press for democratic reforms (DPA) 
 
 00:37 Hackers backing Syrain regime hit Al-Jazeera website (AP) 
 
 23:07 U.S. Democrats drop 'Jerusalem as Israel's capital' from party platform (Haaretz) ||||| 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)
– 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.