Israel Defence Minister: 'We don’t want a war'

Defence Minister Ehud Barak is playing down speculation that Israel intended to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, saying it had not decided to embark on any military operation. 

“War is not a picnic. We want a picnic. We don’t want a war,” Barak told Israel Radio ahead of the release this week of an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report on Iran’s nuclear activity.     

“(Israel) had not yet decided to embark on any operation,” he said, dismissing Israeli media speculation that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had chosen that option.