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Benny Gantz, the outgoing Israeli defense minister, said in an interview last week that Tel Aviv has the military power to wipe out Tehran’s nuclear facilities, but should only carry out such an attack as a last resort.
He told The Jerusalem Post that Benjamin Netanyahu, who on Sunday secured a mandate to form a new government, needs to consider his options “carefully.”
“Israel has the ability to act in Iran,” he said. “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.”
Gantz has identified the Iranian nuclear issue as “the greatest strategic challenge” Israel faces.
TRENDPOST: The Trends Journal has reported extensively on Israel’s preparation for a large-scale war with Iran, including a three-week exercise over the Mediterranean last May called “Chariots of Fire.”
Reports have indicated that an Israeli strike on an Iranian nuclear facility would likely involve a specialized F-35 that can carry the munitions needed to penetrate these facilities. The fifth-generation fighter has stealth capabilities.
Earlier this month, Tzachi Hanegbi, a longtime Netanyahu ally, said in an interview that he believes his pal would act to “destroy the nuclear facilities in Iran” if the U.S. fails to secure a nuke deal with Tehran.
Netanyahu has said that Israel will not allow Tehran to develop a nuclear weapon and, in 2013, appealed to U.S. President Barack Obama to order a strike on the installations.
While the media continues to report on Israel’s determination to stop Iran from going nuclear, rarely is it noted that according to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, Israel possesses at minimum some 90 plutonium-based nuclear warheads and has produced enough plutonium for 100-200 weapons.
Thus, it is OK for Israel and other nations to have nuclear weapons but not Iran… or, for that matter, North Korea. Only nations sanctified by a higher political order are permitted to have nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction. And, as evidenced with Iraq, whether they possess them or not, the very thought of it is enough to invade and destroy an “enemy” nation.
We noted last week that it is the height of hypocrisy that Tel Aviv believes it can dictate what countries are allowed to have nukes, while it has its own stockpile. Israel has never confirmed its arsenal and Israel is the only country in the Middle East that has not signed on to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The UNGA recently voted 152-5 (24 abstentions) to call on Israel to get rid of its nuclear weapons.