National Security Council director Yaakov Amidror said Sunday that Iran's nuclear program is the single existential threat Israel faces today. Amidror, who is retiring, made the comments at an event in which he turned over his responsibilities to Yossi Cohen, his replacement.
Amidror said that Israel needed to do “everything possible” to remove this threat. Negotiations would be the preferred method, but if these failed, he said, “other means will be necessary.”
Speaking at the event, Cohen said that he was taking on the assignment “with fear of the importance of the holy office I am responsible for. I have a deep sense of mission in being appointed to this position during these days, when the world around us is in turmoil and the state of Israel faces many challenges.”
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that Israel was responsible for its own existence, and it would not turn that responsibility over to anyone else. “Our responsibility is to ensure that the most challenged and threatened state in the world will not only survive but will continue to be able to defend itself and to thrive,” he said.