Israeli Military Requests Funding for a Potential Strike on Iran: Report
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by i24 News
Israeli F-35 fighter jets are seen off the wing of a US Air Force refueling tanker, Oct. 12, 2020. Photo: US Air Force.
i24 News – Israel’s military is reported to be requesting major increases to its budget worth billions of shekels to provide it with the capability to strike Iran’s nuclear program.
The request came during early discussions of the state budget, which the government of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett seeks to pass in the coming months, Kan reported.
Funding discussions took place in the context of the perception that indirect negotiations between the US and Iran regarding the latter’s nuclear ambitions may fail, the public broadcaster reported.
Separately, sources in the security establishment accused former prime minister and current leader of the opposition Benjamin Netanyahu of neglecting the state’s ability to strike Iran while he was in office.
Netanyahu did not allocate the necessary funding required to resource the complex operations a strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities would entail, unnamed security sources told Channel 12.
Such an operation would require intense, lengthy preparation, and the delay from the former government could lead to a scenario where Israel is effectively “waving a gun without any bullets in it,” defense officials told the TV station.
Prior to the report, Netanyahu published an op-ed in Israel Hayom arguing that the new Bennett-led government was “silent” as “the Iranians are rushing toward the bomb.”
Netanyahu made warning about the threat perceived from Iran towards Israel a cornerstone of his foreign policy.
Iran will place talks with the US on hold until the handover of the nation’s presidency from President Hassan Rouhani to hardliner Ebrahim Raisi next month, a diplomatic source told Reuters.
