RAMALLAH – Israeli security officials Monday said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spent “too much” money preparing a possible attack on the Iranian nuclear facilities, Israel's Radio reported. The sources, that took part in the discussions about a possible Israeli attack on Iran, told the radio that former prime minister Ehud Olmert exaggerated the amount of money he claimed was spent on Iran. Olmert said Friday that Netanyahu spent 11 billion Israeli shekel (a little under $3 billion) on what he called “harebrained adventures” to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions. The attack from Olmert is evidently timed to coincide with the run-up to the Israeli Knesset elections, slated for Jan. 22. The sources said that Netanyahu's decision to prepare the army for a possible military attack in Iran was legitimate. However, they stressed that it was possible to spend a lot less money. Netanyahu's office refused to go into the details of the alleged spending citing national security reasons. Netanyahu, who earlier denied the claims, said during the cabinet meeting Sunday morning that Olmert was the one who had wasted money. “In contrast to governments that invested billions in the disengagement, we invested billions in fortifying our strength so as to ensure the security of Israel's citizens,” Netanyahu said, referring to Israel's 2005 pullout from the Gaza Strip, which Olmert oversaw as finance minister. Later on Sunday, Olmert repeated his accusation against Netanyahu he bought an unneeded submarine from Germany for an attack on Iran. According to foreign media reports, the subs can carry nuclear weapons. Olmert said during a conference in occupied Jordan Valley that Israel's purchase of a 500-million-euro, Dolphin-class submarine from Germany a year earlier, Israel's sixth, had been done against the advice of the security community, which said it was unnecessary. “This was a megalomaniacal purchase that was done on a whim,” Olmert said.
