JERUSALEM, Oct 14 (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that he was not in favour of a preemptive strike against Iran before Israel’s October 27 election but also warned Tehran and its proxies against striking Israel.
“It is not convenient for us, it’s no good,” Netanyahu said in an interview on Israel’s Army Radio, when asked about the possibility of a preemptive strike and allegations by his political rivals that he was seeking a military confrontation ahead of the election.
“Even if Iran fires missiles at us they will blame me,” Netanyahu said, though he also repeated his previous warnings to Iran, saying Israel would respond forcefully if attacked.
He would not elaborate on the possibility of a preemptive strike after the election or about his recent discussions with Washington about Iran.
The United States and Iran have been at war since February 28 when the US and Israel attacked Iran and Tehran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states.
Israel and Iran have not traded fire since June.
Asked whether Israel was assisting Saudi Arabia against attacks by the Iran-aligned Yemeni Houthis, Netanyahu said:
“I don’t get into those matters. I can only tell you that many countries in the Middle East are turning to us following our massive success and tremendous achievements.”
Saudi Arabia has faced widening Houthi strikes over the past week, including an attack on Riyadh airport on Saturday that killed 13 people.
Netanyahu said that Iran’s proxies were also looking to launch attacks on Israel before the election.
Defence Minister Israel Katz, speaking from the self-declared security zone Israeli forces are occupying in southern Lebanon, warned Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah against attacking Israel.
“Hezbollah will suffer a severe blow and lose additional territories in southern Lebanon within the Nabatieh and Litani regions, which will become part of Israel’s permanent security zone. The IDF (Israel Defence Forces) is prepared to carry out the manoeuvre,” Katz said.
Katz said that a million Shi’ites would be displaced and that Hezbollah’s stronghold in Beirut would not be spared.
Israel launched air strikes and a ground invasion in southern Lebanon this year in parallel with the war in Iran, after Hezbollah fired into Israel in revenge for the attacks against Tehran.
Hundreds of thousands of people from Lebanon’s Shi’ite Muslim community, from which Hezbollah draws its support, were uprooted by the fighting.
(Reporting by Maayan Lubell and Lina Obeid; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
Comments