Israel rethinks anti-Iran warnings

Asked about the Yedioth interview, Netanyahu said he saw "eye to eye" with Barak. The Prime Minister's Office denied that there had been any change to Israeli strategizing on Iran.

Yet the alarm-dampening restraint professed by Barak, a retired top general and ex-premier who leads the center-left Labor party in a coalition under Netanyahu's right-wing Likud, cannot but find its way into closed-door discussions.

As defense minister to Netanyahu's predecessor, Ehud Olmert, Barak was cautious on warmaking. According to a security cabinet official at the time, Barak argued against the 2007 sortie that destroyed an alleged Syrian atomic reactor, calling it hasty.

Barak's aides denied that, and the fact that the air strike happened points, at the very least, to his ability to close rank.

Syria, which described the target as a disused military building, was considering peace talks with Israel at the time, which may have helped contain any retaliation.

By contrast, Iran is dead set against recognizing the Jewish state and has numerous, distant, fortified and -- in the case of an uranium enrichment plant disclosed last week -- hidden nuclear facilities.

"Barak's thinking on Iran definitely appears to have sway, for now," said an Israeli security official who is not aligned with the Defense Ministry. (Editing by Samia Nakhoul)