ISRAEL: Israel's Iranian-born Defence Minister has issued a threat of unprecedented gravity to the rulers of his native land, warning Teheran that Israel will destroy Iran's nuclear capability if it deems it necessary.
Defence Minister Mr Shaul Mofaz, a former chief of staff of the Israeli army and a leading member of Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon's Likud party, delivered the threat when answering questions from listeners to Israeli state radio's Persian-language service. He said Israel was contemplating action to destroy Iran's nuclear capability, and added that if the military operation were ordered, care would be taken to ensure that ordinary Iranian citizens, with whom Israel had no dispute, "will not be harmed."
Mr Mofaz's warning follows similar, but less direct, expressions of concern over the Iranian nuclear programme by several leading members of the Israeli security establishment. In a rare public address last week, Avi Dichter, the head of the Shin Bet domestic intelligence service, branded Iran a primary strategic threat to Israel, because of its nuclear programme, its missile capabilities, what he called its relentless efforts to draw Arab citizens of Israel into assisting in acts of terrorism, and its funding, incitement and orchestration of terrorism. Meir Dagan, the head of the Mossad external intelligence service, for his part, reportedly told a parliamentary committee recently that Iran constituted the single gravest threat ever to Israel. Mr Mofaz is himself said to have told US officials recently that the prospect of a nuclear Iran was intolerable for Israel, and would have to be prevented.
Well aware of the Israeli concerns, and of the fact that the Israeli air force blew up Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactor at Osiraq in an air raid 22 years ago, Teheran has warned Israel in the past not to contemplate military action against it.
Iran is widely believed to be near to nuclear self-sufficiency, has developed missiles that could deliver a non-conventional warhead to anywhere in Israel, and is avowedly committed to the destruction of the Jewish state.
Meanwhile, in the wake of Libya's declared readiness to destroy its non-conventional weaponry, Israel is coming under pressure to give up its never officially confirmed nuclear capability. Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak declared yesterday that "one way or another" Israel would have to "get rid of its weapons of mass destruction".
Thirteen reservists from the Israeli army's most elite commando unit, Sayeret Matkal, have written to Mr Sharon refusing further service in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Arguing that the occupation was hurting Israel's image as a Jewish, Zionist and democratic entity, they wrote that "we won't be a part of the repressive rule in the territories."
Israel's Deputy Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, reiterated yesterday that "tens of thousands" of settlers would have to be evacuated if the Israeli government proceeded with a "Disengagement Plan" from parts of the West Bank.