Maj.-Gen. Amos Gilad, the head of the Defense Ministry's Diplomatic-Security Bureau, stated in a Jerusalem Post interview that Israel will not tolerate a nuclear Iran and recalled the IAF's 1981 destruction of Saddam Hussein's 'Tammuz' nuclear reactor at Osirak. The interview is arguably the most convincing Israeli statement of intent to date regarding the military option against Iran's nuclear arms project.
When asked about the complexities of an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, which have been built to withstand a repeat of the IAF's raid against Osirak, Gilad told the Post that domestic critics 27 years ago said the Osirak raid "couldn't be done. And the fact is, it succeeded."
Iranians are 'smart'
Israel is backing diplomatic and economic efforts vis-a-vis the Iranians for now, Gilad said, but i
Critics said the Osirak raid "couldn't be done. And the fact is, it succeeded."
t doubts these will work. He noted: "Iran is a country with smart people that have capabilities." Presumably referring to an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear weapons program, he added: "It really would be a considerable challenge. Come the day, if and when this or that option is adopted, what will matter is the outcome."
Gilad dismissed the idea that Israel might have to come to terms with the existence of a nuclear Iran and made it clear that a nuclear-armed Iran would constitute an existential threat, even if it did not proceed immediately to use the weapons against Israel. "The Iranians are determined to obtain nuclear weaponry," he said. "Iran is controlled by an ideology and a regime that has set itself the goal to be rid of Israel."
'The picture is clear'
Gilad said that "diplomatic pressure against a state this determined can slow processes, but cannot halt them." Economic pressure could have worked if Iran were facing "total isolation," he said. "But that's not happening." The economic pressure, he added, while impressive, "is not preventing the dangerous process of a nuclear Iran." Gilad added: "They will continue. The picture is clear. They are building more missiles. They're dealing with uranium enrichment."
For Israel, he said, "this is indeed a situation that we can't tolerate. What can be done about it? First of all, we still stick with the diplomatic option, and all the options are on the table, as President [George W.] Bush said."
Beyond that, he said, "I can't go into details... Elaborating directly assists the enemy in its war against Israel. The test will be in the result - whether we are able or not to prevent this grave threat… The more we talk about it - however seductive that may be - the more we brag, the more we weaken our capacity to achieve. We cannot accept a nuclear Iran. We cannot be reconciled to it."