Israel threatens to strike Iran alone

Israel's former national security adviser Yaakov Amidror, who left his position only last week, told British Financial Times (FT) newspaper that Israel has the ability to strike Iran if necessary and is willing to do so alone.

Retired General Admidror, who is currently the head of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's National Security Council, stressed, "Israel has the ability to strike the Islamic Republic. We are not bluffing. We are very serious, preparing ourselves for the possibility that Israel will have to defend itself by itself."

The article penned by John Reed in Ra’anana mentioned the recent negotiations held regarding Iran's nuclear programme and cautioned that a "bad deal" following this week's negotiations "was liable to lead to war." Regarding the US's unfavorable outlook toward an Israeli attack on Iran, FT noted, "Washington fears a unilateral strike would prompt huge retaliation against Israel."

When asked whether Premier Netanyahu would take "unilateral military action," Amidror replied that Netanyahu was indeed ready to make such decisions. He stressed that Iran's nuclear programme a threat to the Middle East in its totality rather than simply to Israel. He added, "But we cannot count on others to do the job if the others don't want to do the job."

Touching on the possibility of a Hezbollah retaliation in the case of a unilateral Israeli operation, Amidror stated, "We will have to be ready to use ground forces to go into the urban [Lebanese] centres."