The Head of the Israeli Defense Forces Planning Directorate, Maj. Gen. Nimrod Sheffer, has stressed over the weekend that Israel’s national security will not be jeopardized by the framework nuclear deal reached between six world powers and Iran last week in Switzerland and that the possibility of Israel carrying out an airstrike on Iran’s nuclear plants is still a valid option.
Sheffer told Israel Hayom paper that Israel’s position on the Iranian nuclear program remains unchanged, that “all options are on the table” and that they go “beyond a simple challenge” because Teheran has declared that “the State of Israel has no right to exist.” He said Israel has already bombed Iran before and sees no reason why it shouldn’t happen again.
A preliminary agreement was reached by Iran and the P5+1 on Thursday and it will serve as a framework for a final deal but Prime Minister Netanyahu criticized it because “such a deal does not block Iran’s path to the bomb” but rather “paves Iran’s path to the bomb.” He warned that a final agreement under such a framework “might very well spark a nuclear arms race throughout the Middle East and it would greatly increase the risks of terrible war.” Netanyahu also added that “Israel will not accept an agreement which allows a country that vows to annihilate us to develop nuclear weapons, period.”
In a round of interviews with American media outlets Sunday, Netanyahu said “I think this is a dream deal for Iran and a nightmare deal for the world.”
Sheffer said the Israeli army follows the orders of Israel and “as long as Israel instructs its army to do what it has to do because that is the right thing to do for Israel’s security, I think it will be accepted.”
Iran has always warned that an Israeli attack on its nuclear plants will be equal to a declaration of war.
