"War Is A Racket" - U.S. Marine Major General Smedley D. Butler

Israeli billionaires caught in Iran trade storm

"Ofer Brothers Group, one of Israel's most powerful corporations, is no stranger to scandal, but until now has largely emerged unscathed. But since allegations emerged that it traded with Iran it has been facing an unprecedented domestic backlash that could profoundly shake the Israeli establishment.

Israel's hawkish government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, is the most vocal of Iran's critics, labelling its nuclear ambitions an existential threat to the Jewish state and calling repeatedly for tougher economic sanctions by the international community. But what it demands of others, it apparently fails to do itself, Israeli commentators say.

"Netanyahu, who endlessly preaches the need for firm action against Iran to prevent it from acquiring nuclear arms, is not lifting a finger to stop Israeli companies and individuals indirectly trading with Iran," wrote Yossi Melman in the left-leaning newspaper Haaretz."