Israeli Ambassador to Australia Hillel Newman said on Wednesday that renewed military action against Iran is possible if Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities are not neutralized by a prospective peace deal with the United States.
Newman told Iran International that Israel is “in favor” of talks, “as long as they attain the objectives.”
“We cannot compromise on the objectives,” he continued. “As I said, the objectives are removal of the nuclear capability, zero enrichment, zero enriched uranium in Iran.”
“Also, the fact of the ballistic missiles and stopping their support of the proxies which cause unrest in the entire Middle East,” he added.
“If we can attain it through negotiations and diplomatic discussions, fine. If not, we might have to go back to the military campaign in order to attain the objectives, but the objectives must be attained,” he said.
Newman answered carefully when asked if Israel was prepared to resume strikes against Iran without the United States if a ceasefire deal does not accomplish those important objectives.
“We’re actually now in a kind of a ceasefire which we have declared and accepted because we’re giving a good opportunity in good faith for the discussions, for the diplomatic resolution of the issue,” he said.
“We have trust, we have confidence in President Trump. We work together closely. There’s coordination,” he stressed.
Newman was also cautious when discussing the situation in Lebanon where Israel is conducting a ground operation against the Iran-backed terrorists of Hezbollah. Iran has reportedly insisted that a ceasefire against its proxies in Lebanon must be part of any deal.
“We just have to make sure that the Hezbollah terrorists are not launching rockets against Israel and as much as possible not armed and present in the southern part of Lebanon beyond the south of the Litani River,” Newman said.
“That’s all we want. We don’t want any territorial aspirations in Lebanon,” he insisted.
Israel may not be looking forward to managing any Lebanese real estate, but they might have little choice to accomplish their security objectives.
On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Israeli troops have moved north of the Litani River, which marks the boundary of southern Lebanon.
“Our forces have crossed the Litani, they have moved up to the commanding terrain. We are operating in Beirut, in the Beqaa, across the entire front and are hitting Hezbollah head on,” Netanyahu said during a visit to Israeli forces on the Lebanese border.
The Litani River is of great strategic significance because the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolution that ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah specified that Hezbollah would withdraw north of the river, while the U.N. would assist the Lebanese Army with keeping southern Lebanon free of Hezbollah weapons.
That did not happen and Hezbollah has continued launching rocket and drone attacks against Israel from southern Lebanon to this day. Israel first bombed, and then invaded, Lebanon to tackle the Hezbollah threat once and for all after Hezbollah attacked Israel in March ostensibly to get revenge for the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Home Front Command warned on Thursday that while damage to Israel from the current conflict has been minimal — much less than even Iran’s missile attacks last year during the 12-Day War — there is a danger that Iran will learn new tactics and pose a greater threat in the future.
The IDF was worried that a prospective U.S.-Iran deal that leaves Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities largely intact would leave Israel under the constant threat of imminent Iranian attack, making it difficult to release reserve soldiers from duty or lower readiness levels.
The Home Front Command also pointed out that Iran launched over 60 percent of its attacks this year against countries other than Israel but, in a future conflict, it might not have so many other targets for its missiles.
In his interview with Iran International, Newman held out hope that the Iranian people might yet bring a decisive end to the conflict with Iran’s terror masters by overthrowing the regime.
“In the end, the people of Iran must take their destiny into their own hands,” he declared.
“By weakening the Basij forces and by weakening the IRGC, by weakening the regime itself, we are opening perhaps a new opportunity for the people of Iran,” he said hopefully.
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