Go to Original
Minister: Israel Would Destroy Iran if Attacked
Agence France-Presse
Monday 07 April 2008
Jerusalem - An Israeli government minister warned on Monday that Israel would
respond to any Iranian attack by destroying that country, public radio reported.
"An Iranian attack against Israel would trigger a tough reaction that
would lead to the destruction of the Iranian nation," National Infrastructure
Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said in remarks of rare virulence.
"Iranians are aware of our strength but continue to provoke us by arming
their Syrian allies and Hezbollah," he said during a meeting at his ministry.
Ben-Eliezer, a member of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's security cabinet, stressed
however that the Iranians were unlikely to attack as "they understand the
meaning of such an act".
Last month, Defence Minister Ehud Barak told visiting US Vice President Dick
Cheney that "no option" would be ruled out in Israel's bid to stop
Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Israel, along with its ally the United States and other Western powers, accuses
Iran of pursuing the development of a nuclear bomb under the guise of its civilian
nuclear programme - a charge Tehran denies.
Israel considers Iran its top enemy following repeated calls by President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad for the Jewish state to be wiped off the map.
Ben-Eliezer also stressed that an ongoing five-day home front defence exercise
was not meant to threaten Israel's neighbours, but stressed that "the scenarios
considered in the exercise could be reality tomorrow".
He said Israel could one day find itself in a situation in which hundreds of
rockets rain down on Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
"Nowhere would be safe from Syrian and Hezbollah rockets," Ben-Eliezer
said.
The scenario for Monday's drill had Israel coming under simultaneous attack
from Syria and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia in the north and from Palestinian
militants in Gaza to the south.
The exercise, which started on Sunday, comes amid media reports of heightened
tensions along Israel's heavily guarded border with Syria and just days after
Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora put his armed forces on alert.
-------
Jump to today's Truthout Features:
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. t r u t h o u t has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is t r u t h o u t endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
"Go to Original" links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted on TO may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the "Go to Original" links.
Print This Story
E-mail This Story