Israeli DM: All Options on the Table Against Iran

Terms Iran an 'Existential Threat' to Israel

Most of Israel has stopped talking about the possible attack on Iran to talk about early elections. Speaking today at Israel’s Foreign Press Association, Defense Minister Ehud Barak apparently didn’t get the memo.

Instead, Barak went on to declare Iran an “existential threat” to Israel, declaring that “all options are on the table” and accusing those opposed to the war of “burying their heads in the sand.”

Barak’s statements were, of course, nothing new and if they had been made even a couple of weeks ago they would’ve barely registered as news. With a growing number of top former officials now outspoken in their opposition to the war, his “business as usual” approach is certain to be controversial.

So to will be his comments that time is running out, as it fits into a previous narrative that an Israeli attack needed to come by the end of the summer to be effective. This suggests Barak might be looking to start a war on his way out the door, leaving whoever is elected in the fall to pick up the pieces.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.