Israeli Intelligence Says It Forecast Iran’s Truce Bid

Israeli intelligence officials told the United States that the Persian Gulf War could be nearing an end two weeks before Iran announced this month that it would accept a cease-fire, Israel Radio said Thursday.

“When they heard our assessments, they looked at us like the town idiot,” a senior official close to the subject told the Israel Radio military correspondent.

The report ran counter to accusations by Parliament members that Israeli military intelligence failed to predict an end to Iran’s eight-year-old war with Iraq.

Israel is concerned that it might become the target of either country’s firepower.

The radio said senior Israeli intelligence officials told the head of research at the U.S. State Department there was a reasonable possibility the gulf war was near an end. The Israeli Cabinet was given the same evaluation.

One senior official told the radio that Israeli intelligence was the only Western source to forecast an early end to the war.

Iran would be forced either to end the war or change its direction because of heavy casualties and Iraqi victories, the radio quoted officials as saying. It said Israel began making such assessments eight months ago.

Israeli Parliament members complained last week that two days before the Iranian announcement, a senior Israeli army officer briefed them but gave no indication that a cease-fire was imminent.