Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left no doubt in a statement Wednesday about what his Jewish country might do if current tensions with Iran escalate further.
“Israel will do whatever it takes to defend itself,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
The comment comes after separate meetings with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in Israel on Wednesday, during which the ministers discussed measures Israel could take in retaliation for the direct attack unprecedented attack by Iran against Israel over the weekend.
“They have all kinds of suggestions and advice. I appreciate that. But I want to be clear: we will make our decisions ourselves,” added the Prime Minister.
“NOTHING LEFT”: PRESIDENT IRAN PLEDGES TO COMPLETELY DESTROY ISRAEL IF IT LAUNCHES “SMALLEST INVASION”
During the meeting, Baerbock said the escalation “would serve no one, neither the security of Israel, nor the dozens of hostages still in the hands of Hamas, nor the suffering population in Gaza, nor the many people in Iran who themselves are suffering under the regime. , not third countries in the region who simply want to live in peace,” Reuters reported.
READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP
Netanyahu’s comment also comes just hours after the Iranian president vowed to completely destroy Israel if it carried out even the slightest invasion of his country.
President Ebrahim Raïssi promised a “massive and harsh” response to possible Israeli reprisals during a speech Wednesday during an annual military parade.
Iran launched hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel on Saturday in response to an apparent strike on the Iranian embassy in Syria on April 1 that killed 12 people, including two Iranian generals. Iran accuses Israel of being responsible for the attack, although Israel has not claimed any involvement.
WHITE HOUSE ANNOUNCES NEW SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAN AFTER ATTACK ON ISRAEL: “PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE”
Raisi said Saturday’s attack was limited but that “nothing would remain of the Zionist regime” if the current situation worsened, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Israel and Iran have been waging a shadow war for decades, with the war coming to a head in recent months as Iran supports Hamas, which carried out the deadliest terrorist attack in Israeli history on October 7.
The Jewish country then launched a massive ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, aiming to recover its Hamas hostages and remove the terrorist group from governance of the territory.
On Saturday, Israel, with help from the United States, the United Kingdom, neighboring Jordan and other countries, managed to intercept almost all of the missiles and drones launched by Iran. Israel boasted a 99% success rate, thanks to the use of its Iron Dome and David’s Sling systems.
Israel said it would respond, but did not provide further details on how or when.
Its allies advocated that any retaliation be strikes in areas that would not result in casualties and thus would likely avoid further escalation.
Saturday’s attack was the first direct Iranian military attack against Israel.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Original article source: Netanyahu speaks 9 chilling words as Iranian president vows to completely destroy Israel
yahoo
