Israeli Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News on Sunday that Israel’s recent air assault on Iran, carried out under Operation Rising Lion, was launched to prevent what he described as a looming nuclear catastrophe.
According to Netanyahu, Israel’s decision to act was based on intelligence indicating that Iran was only a few months away from building its first nuclear weapon.
“We had to act,” Netanyahu declared. “It was the 12th hour, and we did act. To save ourselves but also … to protect the world from this incendiary regime.”
He explained that Israeli intelligence, which was also shared with the United States, revealed a covert Iranian program focused on weaponizing uranium. “The intel we got and we shared with the United States was absolutely clear: That they were working in a secret plan to weaponize the uranium, they were marching very quickly, they would achieve a test device and possibly an initial device within months, and certainly less than a year,” he said.
“That is something that we couldn’t possibly accept,” Netanyahu continued. “We will not have a second Holocaust, a nuclear Holocaust. We already had one, in the previous century – the Jewish state is not going to have the Holocaust committed on the Jewish people. It’s not going to happen.”
Netanyahu further stated that intelligence assessments indicated Iran had already accumulated enough enriched uranium to produce nine nuclear bombs. “All they had to do was weaponize them. We stopped that,” he told Fox News.
When Fox News anchor Bret Baier asked whether Israel’s operation aimed to bring about regime change in Iran, Netanyahu responded, “It could certainly be the result, because the Iran regime is very weak.”
He elaborated by condemning the ruling clerics in Tehran, saying, “80% of the people would throw these theological thugs out. They shoot women because their hair is uncovered. They shoot students. They just suck the oxygen out from these brave and gifted people, the Iranian people. The decision to act, to rise up this time, is the decision of the Iranian people.”
The Israeli leader expressed confidence that the military strikes had dealt a serious blow to Iran’s capabilities. “I think we’ve set them back quite a bit. They were very surprised,” Netanyahu told Fox News.
{Matzav.com}