Israeli Air Force F-15 planes. Photo: Reuters / Amir Cohen.

Amid concerns that Israel may be facing a potential direct attack from Iran, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi pledged on Monday a strong response to anyone who threatened Israel.

“Israel has faced security challenges in the past and is facing them today,” Yediot Ahronot quoted Kochavi as saying in a speech.

“We will not permit the State of Israel to be hurt,” he vowed, “and if it happens we will respond with great power.”

“We keep our eyes open,” he added, “make daily assessments, and professional and responsible decisions leading to action and preempting threats, while maintaining stability.”

The Algemeiner reported on Sunday that the Israeli security establishment was assessing that Iran could seek to strike the Jewish state in the same manner it did a Saudi Arabian oil facility last month.

To discuss the issue, Israel’s security cabinet convened over the weekend for the first time since the Sept. 17 Knesset elections. On the agenda was the growing threat of a direct conflict with Iran.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the inauguration of the new Knesset last week, said, “We are facing a huge security challenge that has been growing from week to week, in the last two months and especially in recent weeks.”

“It’s not spin or a whim, anyone who knows the details knows how true they are,” Netanyahu added.

The Israeli leader said Iran’s “boldness and impudence are growing” and directly referenced the attack on the Saudi oil facility.

He reminded the assembled MKs that Iran had pledged to destroy Israel and that the Jewish state must handle this threat “with the utmost seriousness.”

President Reuven Rivlin, on the same occasion, referred to a security threat “that we have not known for many years.”