Standing next to an F-35 fighter jet, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Tuesday issued a threat to Iran, warning the Islamic Republic that it could soon feel Israel’s “long arm.”
In a video posted on Twitter, Lapid said it was too early to know if his pressure on the Biden administration to scrap negotiations to revive the Iran nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, has worked.
“It is still too early to know if we have indeed succeeded in stopping the nuclear agreement, but Israel is prepared for every threat and every scenario,” Lapid said at the Nevatim airbase in southern Israel.
“If Iran continues to test us, it will discover Israel’s long arm and capabilities. We will continue to act on all fronts against terrorism and against those who seek to harm us,” Lapid added.
The Israeli pressure does appear to be working as a revival of the JCPOA now seems unlikely since the US reacted negatively to Iran’s latest response in the ongoing negotiations, and the EU said the deal was in “danger.”
Lapid said in the video that he and President Biden agreed the US wouldn’t constrain Israel if it wanted to attack Iran. “As President Biden and I agreed, Israel has full freedom to act as we see fit to prevent the possibility of Iran becoming a nuclear threat,” he said.
Lapid says that Israel’s concern is Iran becoming a nuclear-armed state, but if that were true, he would favor a revival of the JCPOA, which puts Iran’s civilian nuclear program under strict limits.
Israel’s biggest complaint about the deal is that it doesn’t last forever. But even after the JCPOA, Iran would still be a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which Israel refuses to sign due to its secret nuclear weapons program and undeclared stockpile.
Israel has a history of carrying out covert attacks inside Iran and is suspected of being behind a string of mysterious deaths that occurred inside the country this past Spring.
The F-35 being put to its best use … as a prop and monument to MIC waste.
Otherwise, this is nonsense. Again, Sparta-on-the-Dead-Sea would be crazy to actually attack Iran. Such an attack would absolutely ensure Iran would nuclearize, perhaps even buy a few from N Korea or Russia (who both owe Iran something big).
Completely agree about the F35 being a monument to waste and hubris.
I also agree that a strategic attack on Iran would be suicidal for Israel unless the Lobby succeeded in getting the US to follow up for Israel.
But Iran will never seek nuclear weapons under the present regime Nuclear weapons goes against Iranian military, political and religious doctrine. By issuing a fatwa against nuclear weapons, Ayatollah Khamenei created a situation where millions of Iranians who adhere to Shiite Islam have a religious duty to prevent their government from developing a nuclear weapon. There is simply no way a militant Iranian regime could securely develop a nuclear weapon when many if not most of the workers on the project have a religious duty to stop nuclear weapons development. Of all the countries with the technological capability of pursuing a nuclear weapons program, Iran is absolutely the least likely to seek a nuclear weapon.
To believe that Iran will not pursue nuclear weapons because of a religious decree is to believe in Santa Claus and the tooth fairy
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-02-11/iran-drops-the-fig-leaf-of-its-fatwa-against-nuclear-weapons
Believe Bloomberg if you like, but, the NIE (not politicians, John Kerry & Barry Obama) has consistently maintained “with high confidence” that Iran is not pursuing nukes.
Perhaps so.
As is believing that Israel is entitled to rule Palestine because of one.
Good retort Thomas!
I thank you for your support of the Palestinian people. Good job.
Yes, he seems to have greatly moderated more than a few of his opinions, nearly all for the better, I cannot think of any that he has changed for the worse, from my point of view.
Too glib Thomas. Israel is a secular democracy. To be sure there are very religious elements that believe the land is God given. They are not in the majority. Jews have historically occupied that land for thousands of years. And on a number of occasions, they have been willing to trade that land for peace.
Ah, the pot calls the kettle glib.
Well, OK.
There have ALWAYS been many people living in the lands of Palestine over human history, even in biblical times. But there were very few Jews in Palestine in 1900 (compared to other residents).
Somehow this land was made the “Jewish State” anyway … now, how did that happen? What was special about the Jewish people of Palestine that made the west gift them the land?
“Somehow this land was made the ‘Jewish State'”
Well, there’s no “somehow” about it. There was an opportunity for a Jewish state and an Arab state, but Arab “leaders” thought they could just push the Jews into the sea and take it all, then failed to do so and ended up with a much bigger de facto Jewish state than is recognized in international law. So it’s not an entirely one-sided thing.
If the Palestinian Arabs want the world more on their side, a good start would be recognizing Israel with the borders established in UNR 181, which remain the legal borders of Israel to this day. They’re not likely to get it quite THAT small ever again as a practical matter, but it could be the starting point for pressure and negotiations to get back to e.g. the pre-1967 lines.
No no no no no … the issue raised by Odele was that Israel’s legitimacy did not lie in the Bible but rather the Jewish people who have lived on the land. I pointed out that the idea of this specific area being a Jewish “homeland” was based on the Bible, as recognized by Christian nations who pushed for the UN mandates.
But secondly, the “world” is on the side of the people of Palestine … however, the Christian powers that be, that’s a different story. The Palestinian Arabs had no chance.
There have been Jews in Palestine since there have been Jews. And whatever else MIGHT have happened afterward if things had gone another way, it is a fact that the Zionists were willing to accept a small state with a neighboring Arab Palestinian state as of 1948. Arab politicians — most of them not Palestinian — decided they’d rather have a war, and somehow managed to lose that war despite massively outnumbering their opponents AND having the all-out assistance of the British Empire to win it. That’s just a fact of history.
So, do those who support the Palestinian Arabs want to do something about it other than whine? Because they could.
There have been Jews in Palestine since there have been Jews. And whatever else MIGHT have happened afterward if things had gone another way, it is a fact that the Zionists were willing to accept a small state with a neighboring Arab Palestinian state as of 1948. Arab politicians — most of them not Palestinian — decided they’d rather have a war, and somehow managed to lose that war despite massively outnumbering their opponents AND having the all-out assistance of the British Empire to win it. That’s just a fact of history.
So, do those who support the Palestinian Arabs want to do something about it other than whine? Because they could.
There have been Jews in Palestine since there have been Jews. And whatever else MIGHT have happened afterward if things had gone another way, it is a fact that the Zionists were willing to accept a small state with a neighboring Arab Palestinian state as of 1948. Arab politicians — most of them not Palestinian — decided they’d rather have a war, and somehow managed to lose that war despite massively outnumbering their opponents AND having the all-out assistance of the British Empire to win it. That’s just a fact of history.
So, do those who support the Palestinian Arabs want to do something about it other than whine? Because they could.
Ok, sure, Tom. Say, there have been Spanish Mexicans living in CA and the west in general since there has been a CA … I guess no one would mind if about half of the west of the US, say the part that you and I may be living in (if we live in the west, that is), was arbitrarily hacked out and given to the descendants of Spanish Mexicans for their national state?
Perhaps a little unfair to the non-Mexican people who happen to live in this cobbled together country? Ah, who cares, they should just get along with it.
What, you mean from the part that was “hacked out” and given to Kentuckians and Tennesseans and Mississipians?
Jews and Arabs both “happened to live in this cobbled together country” Neither of them had their own state. Both of them got offered their own state.
One group chose to accept the offer, the other group got hornswoggled by their absentee landlords in Syria, Egypt, etc. into trying to take it all by force.
And then the absentee landlords couldn’t pull it off even with the previous rulers (the British) handing over all the Taggart Forts to them, officering the Arab Legion for them, etc.
The question is whether the supposed supporters of the Palestinian Arabs who got rooked by the Arab states in 1948 want to keep using those Palestinian Arabs as propaganda poster children for a never-ending whinefest, or whether they’d rather try to get back to 1948, or at least to 1967.
I guess we’ll need to leave it to the principals … I hope/think we would agree thought that we should have no part in this whole affair.
If by “we” you mean the US regime, yes, I agree.
You have the history wrong dude.
“Arab “leaders” thought they could just push the Jews into the sea”
You’re full of kaka. When Zionists took over Palestine in 1948, they drove thousands of Palestinians to the sea (videos are available) Most Palestinians took boats from the coast and ended up in Tyre Lebanon. Yassir Arafat in 1968 after formation of PLO made a speech referring to the events in 1948, and said “as they threw us to the sea we will come back and throw the Jews to the see.” There were no other Arab Leaders who said something like this. Read some books.
I think you are the one who should read some books. There is no dearth of genocidal calls on the part of Arab leaders:
Hassan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, was quoted by the New York Times in 1948 as saying “If the Jewish state becomes a fact, and this is realized by the Arab peoples, they will drive the Jews who live in their midst into the sea.” That wasn’t about Israelis but about Jews in Arab countries.
The book O Jerusalem, by Collins and Lapierre, mentions that the phrase was used by a number of Arab leaders.
The first one to say he wanted to “throw the Jews into the sea,” according to the book, was Kamal Irekat (almost certainly the same family as Saeb Erekat,) a police chief in Jerusalem.
It says that the Mufti of Jerusalem adopted the phrase.
As for the United Nations Partition Plan – Ahmad Shukairy, the future first chairman of the PLO threatened that “every word of the UN would be erased with the blood of the Jews,”
iSince when “Hassan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood” was an Arab leader. Besides The Zionists forced Palestinians to the sea, in their ethnic cleansing effort, and to this date continuing with similar activities.
Arab population of pre 1948 Palestine was 900,000. Now the Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and Israel number 7 million. I guess the Israelis are pretty poor at “ethnic cleansing”
While I agree that Iran has not built nukes under heavy provocation before, including in its Iraq war, I think a full on attack by a western enemy would bring up very unpleasant colonialist elements by Iranian nationalism (which is at least as potent a force as shiaism) that the govt would have difficulty stopping a move to weaponization. Defense of land and people is at the heart of the state.
Again, I’ve said many times, I just don’t think Israel is stupid enough to do this and it’s internal/external posturing; but we shall see.
We know the USA is not agreement-capable, and supports “democratic, sovereign, independent states” like Ukraine while interfering wherever it can to ensure real sovereign countries cannot exert their rights. Israel, like the USA, has to have an enemy.
Someone should tell Israel that we aren’t too happy about them being a nuclear state either. Having said that, it will be interesting to see how long it takes for Israel to demonstrate its dissatisfaction… If Israel’s not careful, they could start a nuclear war…
I think that is the whole idea. They should worry though, that the US might have expended all their “spare” munitions in Ukraine and will not have enough to send to Israel for another war.
That’s IsraHell’s entire intent, Donna.
The psychos who run the vicious little quasi-nation want to show the world what they’ve got, knowing the United Snakes would never intervene.
But Russia and China will. We’ll see how THAT works out.
“Israel is prepared for every threat and every scenario.”
But history warns, nations are never ready for the scenario they want to avoid and cannot predict.
https://patternofhistory.wordpress.com/
Israel, thy name is Chutzpah N. Hubris…….
“Look at the weapons we have that we didn’t even have to pay for”
is the message.
MIC junk I suspect with scores of problems, one of which I suspect, being too heavy, is most likely unfixable, except by a new white paper replacement.
I guess Israel is going to try conventional bombing first. We’ll see what the F-35 has got. It doesn’t have the top end of the Iranian fighters. Is it stealthy enough? Will the IR signature give it away? Propaganda and pork aren’t going to win any dogfights. If the S-300 can bring it down that’s going to be hard to spin.
“If Iran continues to test us, it will discover Israel’s long arm and capabilities. We will continue to act on all fronts against terrorism and against those who seek to harm us,” Lapid added.
I guess Iran is “testing” Israel by getting their own scientists assassinated or having their own nuclear facilities sabotaged by Israel. Those are real terroristic acts.
It’s great to be an American … and Israeli too … or as William Dean Howells said “what a thing it is to have a country that can’t be wrong, but if it is, is right, anyway!”
Yes, the Long Arm will be cut to remain Short…!
Be interesting to see how that F-35 stands up against the Russian S-300 and Iran’s equivalent. Eventually Iran will get the S-400 from Russia which is much more effective. Iran might also get 24 4.5-generation Sukhoi Su-35SE ‘Super Flankers’ as well, according to reports some months ago. Israel is running out of time. Eventually Iran will be able to drop Israeli – and US – planes into the Persian Gulf.
I expect if an Su-35 or MiG-29 acquires visual on an F-35 it’s in serious trouble and if an S-300 or S-400 gets a lock it’s gone, and once Israel loses an F-35 or few then what else can they do but reluctantly resort to nukes? It will be interesting to see Biden and company try to lipstick it.
If I were the Israelis, I wouldn’t bet the ranch on the F-35 to perform well in aerial combat with Iran’s aircraft.
On the other hand, if I were the Iranians I I wouldn’t bet the ranch on the S-300 or S-400 to take them out from the ground. The Israelis have been bombing Syria for years, and seem to do pretty well versus those SAM systems.
Supposedly Syria has S-300s and they haven’t yet got an Israeli jet, but maybe they’re holding back for a big strike, or maybe they’re just not very good at shooting down planes.
Personally I suspect the F-35 is optimized for dividends and campaign contributions
Yeah, the F-35 seems optimized to cost a lot of money and make a lot of promises it may well not be able to keep.
The Syrians and the Russians have S-300s and S-400s in the areas the Israelis keep attacking. Either they’re not using them, or they’re not working very well. And if they’re not using them, the most likely reason is that they’re afraid they won’t work very well.
I doesn’t seem like the Israelis are doing much damage in Syria, and their unifying influence may be a net positive. Maybe the Syrians and Russians are playing a long game, waiting for the Israelis to get serious. But it will be interesting to see how much hype the F-35 lives up to if and when.
Hi Ted
I’m still looking forward to Iran mining the Straits of Hormuz.
Day-um, am I glad we heat with wood 😁
‘If Iran continues to test us … ‘ and how is Iran doing that, by trying to eat?
I recently read several books on Nazism and Zionism. Beyond the time, when these two ideologies started, late 19/beginning of 20th centuries, I found many common attributes between them. Top of which is racism, and brutality against other races. Proud of being violent, as an individual or organized groups. The question is why the US found Nazism needed to be eliminated, and rightfully so, but Zionism has taken a controlling stake in the US government?
Variants of fascism pretty much took over the whole world in the 1920s and 1930s, and World War Two was a war between sets of fascist powers. The fascist US regime was against the German, Japanese, and Italian variants of fascism, not against fascism per se. It was all in favor of its own variant of fascism, it was fine with the Stalinist variant as an ally of convenience, it was happy to make common cause with the de Gaulle and Churchill variants, and since the Francoist version sat the war out it didn’t pick a fight with that one either.
The difference between Nazism and American fascism is that Nazism only ran a country for 12 years. We’re at about 90 over here.
I think IsraHell will find it has a tiger by the tail. These aren’t Palestinians armed with stones.
IsraHell only has capabilities against the weak.
The Israeli nuclear arsenal could decimate the Middle East. Maybe they’ll start conventional against Iran and when that doesn’t work escalate to low yield nukes and spin it as an unfortunate but necessary contingency. The world at large will be horrified but the US will push the spin and a lot of Americans will buy it, and of course the fundis actually want nuclear holocaust because of Jesus. Biden will have a stroke and then Liz and Kamala will have a fateful phone conversation that results in 1.3 billion prompt fatalities and a further 800 million deaths from radiation sickness. Putin will eventually retire to a resort in Sakhalin and write his memoirs, which future historians will cite as a definitive account of the events. Those are my predictions.
Can you cite an example of Kamala think or speech that is a harbinger of lust for such wanton mayhem….?????
“Wonton Mayhem” would be a good name for a Chinese fast food place. Can you cite an action by Anglo politicians that hasn’t resulted in unintended consequences? Is there a reason to think anything they do will result in anything but? Is there a reason to suspect Kamala or Liz have the foggiest notion of the technical realities of nuclear warfare? Should Putin try teaching them with sock puppets? Does the hotline have a video link?
Or a fenced in outdoor prison with people packed in like sardines in a can.
Israel strikes using F-35s and Iran counter strikes using missiles. It’s a no win.