Yoav Gallant, former Israeli defense minister, told the Washington Post that Israel’s Oct. 26 strikes on Iran opened a “window of action” to take action against Tehran before the country obtains nuclear weapons . In an article entitled “With Iran in a weak position, the United States and Israel face an urgent choice”, Gallant emphasizes that “we have shown that Iran is vulnerable”. The objective of the “Days of Repentance” operation, according to the former minister, was to ensure that at its end, “Iran would be weaker and Israel stronger”. He notably stressed that there was no longer any “strategic defense around Tehran”.
At the end of October, the Israeli Air Force carried out three waves of strikes, targeting around twenty military sites in Iran. These attacks aimed to damage Iran’s air defenses and its ability to produce ballistic missiles in the long term. They were responding to the Iranian attack on October 1, during which around 180 ballistic missiles were fired towards Israel.
Although Gallant expressed hope for collaboration between Israel and the United States to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, he also asserted that “Israel has the means to strike Iranian facilities in a manner precise, powerful and sophisticated. If necessary, we will not hesitate to act.”
This statement comes as, according to the Wall Street Journal, President-elect Donald Trump is evaluating the possibility of pre-emptive strikes against Iran to stop its growing nuclear program, before his inauguration on January 20.
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