Fearing 'proxy' rockets, Israel engages Iran allies

DAN WILLIAMS | JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - Jul 08 2008 13:56 The map will replace this text. If any users do not have Flash Player 8 (or above), they'll see this message. A flurry of indirect talks between Israel and its closest enemies -- Syria, Lebanon's Hezbollah and Palestinian Hamas -- may not bring peace, but it could help the Israelis contain a future war with arch-foe Iran. Speculation Israel and its United States ally might bomb Tehran's nuclear sites has generated a region-rattling reprisal scenario: ballistic missiles from Iran and rockets fired by its Islamist allies across the Jewish state's border, with Syrian support. That spells a strategic bind for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who has vowed to deny Iran the means to make atomic weapons but wants to avoid a reprise of the 2006 Lebanon war, when Hezbollah shelling drove... [read full story]