WikiLeaks Cable: Iranian Missiles Can Strike Israel in 12 Minutes

JERUSALEM -- Israel would have only 10 to 12 minutes to prepare for an Iranian missile attack, according to a new cable written by the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv and released by WikiLeaks.

The cable was published in the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten and quotes Israel's outgoing chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, speaking to a U.S. congressional delegation in November 2009.

Ashkenazi said Iran has an estimated 300 long-range Shihab missiles that can hit most parts of Israel. Israeli officials are also concerned that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon to use against their country. Iran insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

Wikileaks document says Iranian missiles could strike Israel in 12 minutes

Iranian Army / AFP / Getty Images

An Iranian missile is launched during war games in November. The country's missiles are capable of hitting most parts of Israel, according to 2009 remarks by Israel's outgoing chief of staff in a diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks.

According to the report, Ashkenazi told the delegation, headed by Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., that Hamas, which controls Gaza, and Hezbollah, the pro-Iranian guerrilla group in South Lebanon, pose an even greater threat to Israel than Iran. Israeli intelligence believes Hezbollah has rebuilt its arsenal after the 2006 war with Israel and now possesses some 40,000 rockets near Israel's border with Lebanon.

The Israeli army refused to comment on the contents of the cable.

Efraim Kam, an expert on Iran at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, told AOL News that the 10- to 12-minute window was logical.

"The question is whether that would be enough time for the civilian population to go into shelters," he said. "It would depend on where the shelters are and what they are made of."

In 1991 Iraq fired dozens of Scud missiles at Israel. Israelis had four to five minutes of warning then, and Iraq is about half the distance from Israel that Iran is.

Kam also agreed that Hezbollah poses a more serious threat than Iran, at least for now.

"Iran's missiles can do much more damage, but there are only 300 of them," he said. "Hezbollah has 40,000 rockets, and they are much closer to us."

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In the cable, Ashkenazi reportedly said Israel is preparing for a large-scale war with either Hamas or Hezbollah. "I am preparing the Israeli army for a large-scale war since it is easier to scale down to a smaller operation than to do the opposite," Ashkenazi is quoted saying. "This is why Israel is putting such emphasis on rocket defense."

During the 2006 conflict with Hezbollah, about 1,200 Lebanese, many of them civilians, and 160 Israelis were killed. The war began when Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border attack.

Israeli officials are also worried about Hamas. Israeli intelligence sources Sunday lifted a gag order and reported that two Hamas supporters in East Jerusalem had planned to fire a large missile at Jerusalem's Teddy Stadium during a soccer game. They were responding to Israel's large-scale incursion into Gaza two years ago to stop rocket fire on Israel. The incursion killed 1,400 Palestinians, including many civilians.