Israel's Stance on Attacking Iran: 'We Could Do It Today'

A former air force general said Israel won’t rule out a military attack on Iran and, if necessary, they are ready to do it today against Iran.

Israel practiced war games recently in preparations for attacks against Iran. More than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighters participated in the maneuvers, which were carried out over the eastern Mediterranean and Greece during the first week of June, according to the American officials. Today Isaac Ben-Israel of the ruling Kadima party confirmed Israel’s readiness and said Israel is ready to launch attacks against Iran, especially its atomic plants at Natanz. The former air force general told SPIEGEL that if diplomacy doesn’t work and Iran doesn’t stop pursuing nuclear bombs then Israel will attack Iran:

If necessary, we will use force…We could do it today.

Ben-Israel has some previous experience in this regard; when he was the air force general, he took part in the planning of the 1981 air raid on Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor. Ben-Israel, however, doesn’t think the attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities will be that easy. He told SPIEGEL that Iran’s nuclear activities could be curbed by other means such as sanctions. Only if those means don’t work then Israel will launch an attack against Iran. Regarding the air force maneuvers they practiced over Greece, Ben-Israel said it may not be the last, and they may do more such rehearsals in the future. Recently in October, Israel carried out an air strike on the Al Kibar complex in Syria because they though Syria was secretly developing a nuclear bomb with help from North Korea and Iran. But International Atomic Energy Agency did not find any conclusive evidence at the site about the nuclear weapons in Syria. If Israel does attack Iran, there will be more chaos and possibly another bigger war in the Middle East. Petroleum prices will surely skyrocket.