Netanyahu target of smear campaign?

JERUSALEM, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he wanted an investigation into the alleged leaking of plans about a potential military strike on Iran.

The Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot last week suggested Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barack were pressuring lawmakers to sign off on a campaign to strike Iranian nuclear targets.

Al-Jarida, a Kuwaiti newspaper known to have good sources in Israel, reported Thursday that Netanyahu ordered Israeli Security Agency Director Yoram Cohen to investigate leaks about possible Iranian strike plans.

Netanyahu is believed to suspect former intelligence chiefs Meir Dagan and Yuval Diskin were attempting to derail the strike plains. Dagan, a former Mossad chief, said in January that attacking Iran was irresponsible.

The Jerusalem Post reports that opposition leader Tzipi Livni called on Netanyahu during a recent Knesset meeting to "listen to your security chiefs" regarding Iran.

The International Atomic Energy Agency this week said it had lingering concerns about Iran's nuclear program. Tehran said any attack on its nuclear infrastructure would be suicidal.

The Israeli military in 2007 destroyed a site in Syria thought to be part of a nuclear program under construction with the help of the North Koreans. In 1981, the Israeli military launched a surprise attack on a nuclear reactor outside of Baghdad.