(Image source: Act For America) 

BY MALLORY PERRYMAN

An editorial post claims U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta believes Israel will attack Iran soon-- and the media ran with the story.

“U.S. officials now fear Israel might attack Iran’s nuclear facilities sooner than later.” (NBC)

“A report that Israel may be getting ready to launch an attack this spring.” (Fox News)

“...U.S. officials worry that Israel could actually attack Iran as early as this spring.” (KTTV)

That news came from this editorial piece by David Ignatius in The Washington Post.

“Panetta believes there is a strong likelihood that Israel will strike Iran in April, May or June...”

But Politico’s Tim Mak points out--

“Ignatius does not characterize the source behind his claim...Indeed, the writer does not indicate whether his source is Panetta himself, top aides to the secretary, or someone else.”

When asked about the article-- Panetta told the Associated Press-- he’s not commenting on the story.

But CNN’s Barbara Starr says she confirmed the timetable with a senior Pentagon official. She explains, Israeli officials believe this spring is their last chance to reach Iran’s nuclear facilities with Israel’s own weapons.

Barbara Starr: “After that, they believe Iran would have made enough progress that Israeli weapons can not get to Iran’s nuclear effort, it would only be U.S. weapons.”

If Israel goes ahead with the strike, the U.S. may have to get involved. And NBC’s David Gregory says, that’s the worst-case scenario for the American military.

David Gregory: “... depending upon the nature of the strike it will be destabilizing for the region if not lethal for parts of Israel should something like this happen and the reverberations both in terms of nuclear proliferation and U.S. interests...”

And according to The National Post’s Matt Gurney-- Israel isn’t thrilled about leaving it up to the U.S. either. So will Israel actually strike? Gurney says-- the latest reports sound like deja vu.

“Another year, another report saying that U.S. officials are concerned that Israel may be on the verge of launching a pre-emptive strike...Time will tell, of course.”

On Thursday-- Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said publicly-- time is running out to stop Iran from developing its nuclear program.