Israeli Military Chief Says Main Focus Is Preparations to Strike Iran

Israel recently simulated a large-scale attack on Iran

The head of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said Monday that the Israeli military’s main focus is preparations to attack Iran’s nuclear program, Haaretz reported.

“Preparing a military option against the Iranian nuclear program is a moral necessity and a national security imperative,” IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi said at a handover ceremony for the head of the IDF’s Home Front Command.

Last year, Kochavi said that the IDF was “accelerating” its plan to strike Iran’s nuclear program. The Israeli Air Force recently simulated a large-scale attack on Iran during military exercises over the Mediterranean Sea.

Kochavi said Iran’s nuclear program would still be a concern even if the nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, was revived. He called the JCPOA a “bad deal” and said the agreement “allows Iran to become a nuclear state within a short time after its end date.”

But after the JCPOA expires, Iran would remain a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has vowed over and over that it has no plans to develop a nuclear bomb. Israel, on the other hand, has a secret nuclear weapons program and an undeclared nuclear stockpile and refuses to sign the NPT.

Kochavi’s comments came after President Biden visited Israel and signed a joint declaration with Prime Minister Yair Lapid that said Iran could never acquire a nuclear weapon. Biden said he preferred diplomacy, but he has not made a serious effort to rejoin the JCPOA. Lapid disagreed with Biden and said there needed to be a “credible military threat” to prevent Tehran from getting a bomb.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.