Source: DEBKAfile
A short statement was read out to the Knesset (Israel’s parliament by
cabinet member Michael Eitan Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 16. It read:
“Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu informed the full Knesset plenum that
all options are on the table when it comes to Iran’s nuclear program.
The prime minister and the authorized bodies are acting to stop the
nuclear armament of Iran. The efforts are ongoing and we will do
everything possible to enlist states in the international community, “he
continued “because the Iranian threat is adanger not only to the State
of Israel but to world peace.”
The Knesset was due to devote a special session to the question of an attack on Iran.
DEBKAfile’s military sources report that this is the first statement
of this nature the prime minister has ever delivered to Israel’s
parliament. It was phrased notably in the present tense. “The authorized
bodies” are thought to refer to the Israeli Defense Forces and its
intelligence community.
Also worth noting is that Netanyahu sent a minister to read out his
message. He himself absent from this key debate and so was the defense
minister. For the first time too, there was no reference to sanctions
which have figured hitherto in all Israeli official statements on the
Iranian nuclear controversy.
The implication is that an operation against a nuclear Iran may be in
the works. If so, a response from Tehran is to be expected shortly.
Earlier Wednesday, the supreme commander of Iran's armed forces Gen. Hassan Firouz-Abadi said Israel's cries of alarm about Iran's nuclear development bespeak shock and fear. But nothing will save the Zionist regime from its bitter fate – a hint at Iran's nuclear capability.
Firouz-Abadi said the massive explosion which killed Iran's missile chief Saturday "had nothing to do with Israel or America." It took place during "research on weapons that could strike Israel," adding that the blast had delayed by only two weeks the development of an undisclosed military "product."
The two statements together aroused lively speculation in the tense climate left by the latest nuclear watchdog agency's evidence of Iran's work on a nuclear weapon. Linking them might suggest that the Israeli prime minister had decided to refute the Iranian general's claim. By stating that "efforts are ongoing" to stop Iran's nuclear armament, he may have been implying that the explosion at the Guards base Saturday was indeed a covert Israeli operation in line with those efforts.
Earlier Wednesday, the supreme commander of Iran's armed forces Gen. Hassan Firouz-Abadi said Israel's cries of alarm about Iran's nuclear development bespeak shock and fear. But nothing will save the Zionist regime from its bitter fate – a hint at Iran's nuclear capability.
Firouz-Abadi said the massive explosion which killed Iran's missile chief Saturday "had nothing to do with Israel or America." It took place during "research on weapons that could strike Israel," adding that the blast had delayed by only two weeks the development of an undisclosed military "product."
The two statements together aroused lively speculation in the tense climate left by the latest nuclear watchdog agency's evidence of Iran's work on a nuclear weapon. Linking them might suggest that the Israeli prime minister had decided to refute the Iranian general's claim. By stating that "efforts are ongoing" to stop Iran's nuclear armament, he may have been implying that the explosion at the Guards base Saturday was indeed a covert Israeli operation in line with those efforts.
