Israel is ready to fight Iran on multiple fronts if it needs to, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday, following the launch of Operation Shield and Arrow.
“It’s clear that 95% of Israel’s security problems come from Iran,” Netanyahu said at a conference for Habithonistim, a right-leaning forum of former senior defense officers.
“We are dealing with an attempt by Iran to start a multi-front campaign against us,” the prime minister stated. “My instruction to the IDF and security branches is to be prepared for a multi-front campaign…If we need to, we can do it.”Netanyahu also said that Israel will do all it can to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and will try to prevent Iran from “establishing terror fronts around us.”
Israel is prepared for all possibilities moving forward with Operation Shield and Arrow, Netanyahu said at the opening of a Security Cabinet meeting.
The he senior Islamic Jihad members that Israel killed were “arch-murderers responsible for the rocket fire from Gaza to our territory and aiming terror from Judea and Samaria against our civilians,” he stated.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaks with an IDF official at the start of Operation Shield and Arrow, May 9, 2023. (credit: ARIEL HERMONI/DEFENSE MINISTRY)Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant began preparing their response last week, immediately after the rocket attacks, the prime minister said.
“Our principals are clear: Whoever hurts us, we hurt them with extra force. Our long hand will reach every terrorist at the time and place that we choose,” he added.
Netanyahu and Gallant did not convene the Security Cabinet before launching the operation, receiving permission from Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Meara to do so. They originally planned to target the terrorists on Friday, but waited for technical reasons.
The small forum that decided to launch the operation did not include National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who boycotted this week’s cabinet meeting and whose faction members did not take part in Knesset meetings and votes in protest of the lack of a response to the rockets from Gaza.
On Tuesday, Ben-Gvir tweeted: “It’s about time!”Foreign Minister Eli Cohen learned of the operation after landing in India for diplomatic meetings on Tuesday morning. He decided to shorten his visit to Delhi and return to Israel after his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A senior diplomatic source permitted to speak for the government said that the senior Islamic Jihad terrorists were planning additional terrorist attacks against Israel.
“Israel clarified in the past and clarifies again that whoever initiates terrorist attacks against us will not be forgiven. We will protect the citizens of Israel everywhere and with full force,” he said.
Israeli statements about such operations usually say that Jerusalem views Hamas as responsible for what happens in Gaza, but this time, the senior diplomatic source only mentioned Islamic Jihad, a possible attempt to avoid an escalation.
Netanyahu hinted senior advisers to US President Joe Biden that an operation in Gaza may be on the agenda the day before Operation Shield and Arrow began.
In his meeting with White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk and Special Presidential Coordinator for Global Infrastructure and Energy Security Amos Hochstein on Monday, Netanyahu made vague reference to a planned response to recent rockets from Gaza, but did not tell them when it would happen, a diplomatic source said, confirming a report by KAN News.
A Biden administration source said that if there was a hint about the operation, it was so vague that McGurk and Hochstein did not understand it, but that, in any case, it was not the kind of situation that Jerusalem necessarily would tell Washington about in advance.
Netanyahu also spoke with US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides on Monday, ahead of the operation, but did not tell him about it.
UN Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland said he was “deeply alarmed” by the military operation in Gaza, condemning the death of civilians in the strike, which he said killed five women, four children and a doctor.
“I urge all concerned to exercise maximum restraint and avoid an escalation,” he said. “I remain fully engaged with all sides in an attempt to avoid a broader conflict with devastating consequences for all.”
Russian citizen killed in strikes
Among the civilians killed in the strike were Dzhamal Khasvan, a Russian citizen, and his wife and son. He left behind two more children, who recently received Russian citizenship.
Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov expressed regret and sent condolences to the victims.
“We call to stop all unilateral violent actions, including the creation of irreversible realities on the ground and disproportionate use of force by anyone, which causes casualties among innocent Palestinians and Israelis. There can be no justification for such actions, no matter what goals they are motivated by,” Viktorov said. “Only a return to direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations on all final status issues will be able to break the vicious circle of violence and radicalization as well as to restore mutual trust.”
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana briefed the foreign affairs committees of both houses of the Italian parliament on the operation in Gaza, during his visit to Rome on Tuesday.
“The senior Islamic Jihad [terrorists] killed this morning worked day and night on terrorism against Israel, sponsored by Iran,” Ohana said. “Israel opened a focused operation against them and their extreme terrorist organization to bring quiet back to the residents of Israel and prevent an escalation.
Ohana said no country can tolerate over 100 rockets being shot at its civilians.
Several Italian legislators spoke up to express support for Israel’s fight against terrorism, Ohana’s office reported.
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