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Part 1 of 2 Parts
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress in 2015. He correctly calculated that maintaining consensus support for Israel in America did not necessitate a willingness to downplay opposition to Iran. For the past decade, Israel and Iran have traded insults and threats. Iran is committed to the destruction of Israel and Israel has repeatedly said that they would never allow Iran to have nuclear weapons. Considering their attacks on Iraq’s attempt to develop nuclear weapons back in 1981, that threat must be taken seriously by Iran. If Iran were able to develop nuclear weapons and used them in an attack on Israel, Israel has the capability to annihilate Iran with its nuclear arsenal.
Last Friday, Likud Member of the Knesset Tzachi Hanegbi said that incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would probably order an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities if the U.S. is unable to complete a nuclear deal. Israel certainly has the ability to take action in Iran. However Prime Minister Netanyahu must consider the issue “carefully” before giving such an order. According to outgoing Defense Minister Benny Gantz, “Israel has the ability to act in Iran. We have the readiness, development capabilities, and long-term plans we are managing. We need to prepare for this possibility, and we will also need to consider this issue very carefully before carrying it out.”
These preparations are estimated to have cost over two billion dollars. Hanegbi said that Netanyahu “will act, in my assessment, to destroy the nuclear facilities in Iran. When there is no choice, someone needs to take command — it will be Netanyahu.” According to Gantz, the options to strike Iran “should be prepared and this issue should also be considered very carefully before implementation.”
Gantz told the press that “the last time the IDF was at the highest level of readiness, I was the Chief of Staff and as it was published - it was decided then not to do so-by the same prime minister who is expected to take office.”
Israel has been engaged in its “war-between-wars campaign” against Iran for almost a decade and was most recently accused of striking a fuel convoy near AlBukamal on the border between Syria and Iraq. According to Gantz, “we have had significant successes in the northern arena.” Gantz also said that the competition between Israel and Iran is on every level from technology, academia, space and the transfer of weapons to terror organizations. He added, “I predict that the Iranian hostility will receive a boost as a result of the relations with Russia and the ongoing struggle between the world powers. And this will have an impact on the entire region.”
Israel signed normalization agreements with Gulf States as part of the Abraham Accords negotiated in 2020. Since then, the defense establishment has had over two hundred meetings with representatives from Arab countries who signed the accords and who face similar threats from Iran.
Please read Part 2 next