‘We will take action if needed’
"Without going into details, there are possible negative developments on the horizon that could prompt action," Halevi said.
Israeli military chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi has warned of potential “negative developments” regarding Iran’s nuclear program that would cause Israel to react.
“Iran has made more progress in uranium enrichment than ever before. We are also closely examining other aspects of the [Iranians’] path to nuclear capability,” the IDF chief of staff said at a conference hosted by the Institute for Policy and Strategy of Reichman University in Herzliya.
“Without going into details, there are possible negative developments on the horizon that could prompt action,” Halevi said.
“We have abilities and others have abilities. We have the ability to hit Iran. We are not indifferent to what Iran is trying to build around us, and it is difficult for Iran to be indifferent to the line we are taking,” he added.
Halevi said Israel’s capabilities against Iran “are good … we need to strengthen them more so that we can carry out a broad campaign against Iran”.
Speaking before the IDF chief at the same conference, National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said Israel was not surprised by reports on a new underground Iranian nuclear facility that is likely impervious to US bunker-buster bombs.
Hanegbi said Israel prefers that Iran’s nuclear program be reined in by an agreement rather than a military response, but that Jerusalem would take action if needed.
Hanegbi said: “If we believe there is no avoiding military action against the nuclear facilities in Iran … I think that any Israeli leader will have full backing from Israel’s citizenry and the state to do what Menachem Begin did in 1981, what Olmert did in 2007. To act when all the other options aren’t effective anymore.”
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi met his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo this week during a two-day trip aiming to strengthen economic ties between the Muslim-majority nations amid heightened global geopolitical tensions.
Indonesia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said Raisi is visiting at Widodo’s invitation as Indonesia aims to speed up its post-pandemic recovery by increasing its exports.
Meanwhile, Turkish authorities have reportedly arrested 11 people suspected of spying on Iranian targets for Israel.
According to a report Tuesday by the Daily Sabah, which is widely seen as supportive of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, authorities have identified 15 suspects, 11 of whom were arrested, who allegedly were part of a 23-member ring of operatives.
Turkey’s National Intelligence Organisation and the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office suspect the 15 used a company that does business in Iran to gather intelligence for Mossad, the newspaper reported.
TIMES OF ISRAEL
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