Economics and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett delivered one of Israel's clearest warnings to date Saturday evening, regarding the possibility that the Jewish state would strike Iran's nuclear weapons facilities.
Speaking on Channel Two's Face the Nation, Bennett said that if "a bad deal" is struck with Iran by the P5+1 powers in the Geneva talks, an Israeli strike would become likelier.
If a deal leaves Iran with the ability to "break out" and produce nuclear weapons in a period of six weeks, "we will not be able to sit quietly," he said.
Bennett heads the Bayit Yehudi party and is a member of the inner Security and Diplomacy Cabinet.
Israel is making increasingly clear that it will strike Iran's nuclear facilities if it feels that the western powers' negotiations are not stopping Iran's advance toward the doomsday weapon.
"An Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure is a risky and militarily-complicated endeavor, but within reach," a leading strategic analyst, Prof. Efraim Inbar, who heads the prestigious Begin-Sadat Center at Bar Ilan University, wrote at week's end.
"Israeli ingenuity and determination could lead to a great operational and political success," opines Inbar, and the international responses "are likely to be bearable."