ISRAELI LEADERS have made it clear that they are not ruling out a military option when it comes to stopping Iran obtaining a nuclear bomb. The clarification followed a weekend interview with CNN by Russian president Dimitry Medvedev, in which he said that he was promised by his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres, during talks in August, that the Jewish state “does not plan any strikes on Iran”.
But Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, clarified that a military response has not been ruled out. “It is certainly not a guarantee. I don’t think that, with all due respect, the Russian president is authorised to speak for Israel and certainly we have not taken any option off the table,” he said yesterday.
Israel, in common with most Western powers, believes Iran is striving to produce nuclear weapons, despite constant denials from Tehran, which claims that its nuclear programme is purely civilian in nature.
Israeli leaders have made clear that the Jewish state cannot allow its sworn enemy to obtain a nuclear bomb, particularly bearing in mind comments by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calling for Israel to be wiped off the map and his repeated denial of the Holocaust.
Israel’s top general, chief of staff Lieut Gen Gabi Ashkenazi, also made it clear yesterday that he would not rule out a military strike on Iran’s nuclear installations. “Israel has the right to defend itself and all options are on the table,” Gen Ashkenazi said.
Similar sentiments were expressed by defence minister Ehud Barak, who is in the US for top-level military discussions. In a New York Times interview he confirmed that Israel is keeping all options open, and it wants the diplomatic efforts being pursued by the Americans to be limited, well defined and followed by tough sanctions.
The previous Israeli government, headed by Ehud Olmert, opted to keep a low profile, preferring the US and other Western states to take the lead in combating Iran’s nuclear drive.
The current prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, is much more outspoken, declaring repeatedly that his number one priority is to stop Iran going nuclear.
He has even linked this goal to Middle East peace efforts, telling right-wing colleagues that Israel will make concessions in peace talks in order to garner Western support for efforts to stop Iran obtaining a nuclear weapons potential.
Mr Netanyahu left for New York yesterday, where he will attend a tripartite meeting with President Barack Obama and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. Officials at the prime minister’s office promised that Mr Netanyahu will deliver a “dramatic” speech at the UN General Assembly on Thursday, with most commentators speculating that Iran would be the focus of the speech.
With the Israeli and Iranian delegations at the UN positioned only a few metres apart, the prime minister has already made it clear that he will not take his seat in the presence of Mr Ahmadinejad, in order not to grant legitimacy to the Iranian president.