Sputnik
Israel isn’t ruling out “preemptive” aggression against Iran as it awaits Tehran’s promised response to the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, Israel’s Ynet newspaper has reported, citing a source in Jerusalem said to be familiar with the discussions.
“We will not wait and try to intercept the attack in the air, that will be the second stage, the anonymous source said, saying a preventative attack to thwart Iran’s offensive capabilities was one of Israel’s potential options.
“You have to understand that not everything is possible, you don’t know everything in advance. It really depends on where the attack will come from, what type of attack it will be, how strong it will be and where it will be directed. But the option of a preemptive attack – deterrence in the sense of [targeting] the site from which the attack is going to be carried out – is on the table,” the source said.
Even if Israel received definitive intelligence on Iran’s plans, a great deal would depend on whether this intelligence was shared between Israel and the United States, according to the source. “The option of a preemptive strike ultimately also depends on operational feasibility, whether it’s there or not,” the source said.
A great deal will depend on what kind of action Iran decides to, according to the source, since Iran is capable of both a slow-moving operation that could reach Israel in three to five hours, or a speedy retaliation “that takes 12 minutes to arrive.”
“They have these two capabilities. A distinction must also be made between an attack that comes from Iran and an attack that comes from Hezbollah, separate or combined. There’s also a distinction between an attack against civilian sites and one against military targets,” the source said.
According to Ynet’s source, the threat of a regional war could come about if Israel fails to intercept an Iranian attack – if its countermeasures fail to work properly. “Then we will have to react severely and harshly,” they said, without elaborating.
The source suggested that the feeling in Israeli policy circles is that Iran and Hezbollah want to extract revenge for Israel’s assassination spree, but neither have a desire “to lead to an all-out war.”
An IDF spokesperson told Ynet that the military “has plans” for potential preemptive aggression, and “a high level of readiness for its execution,” and that “any instruction we receive from the political level will be carried out immediately.”
No comments:
Post a Comment