Israeli President Shimon Peres issued an unusually aggressive threat to strike Iran if Tehran fail to respond positively to US President Barack Obama's offer to hold bilateral talks over the Islamic Republic's defiant nuclear program.
Peres said he hopes Obama is able to work the matter out diplomatically, but that if all else fails, Israel will strike at the regime of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
He refused to go into detail about specific plans to carry out an air raid on Iran's nuclear facilities, but reports over the past two years indicate that Israel has been practicing such a raid for some time.
In related news, the New York Police Department confirmed to local Jewish leaders last week that it has put plans in place to secure and protect Jewish community centers and synagogues against Muslims in case Israel decides to bomb Iran.