Former IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon said publicly this week that an Israeli military attack on Iran is both viable and possible - with the participation of the United States and Europe.
Ya'alon spoke at the Washington, D.C.-based Hudson Institute, where he outlined detailed military options available to the Jewish state in dealing with Iran's bid to obtain nuclear weapons as it calls for Israel to be "wiped off the map."
Israel destroyed Iraq's Osarik reactor in 1981, in an operation that was condemned almost universally, but which prevented Saddam Hussein from possessing nuclear weapons and was later acknowledged by the U.S. to have been the right move.
Iran's nuclear facilities are scattered throughout the large country, so an attack, which would necessitate dozens of simultaneous attacks, has been declared impractical – at least publicly – until Ya'alon's comments. Ya'alon said that, though, that such an operation was no more difficult than Israel's pinpoint strikes of wanted terrorists. He said, though, that such an operation would have to receive the participation of American and European air forces in addition to Israel, and should be put into effect after Iran is economically and politically isolated.
He acknowledged that Israel would certainly be the target of Iranian retaliation following the attack, but expressed confidence that Israel's anti-missile systems could protect the country, whether missiles are fired directly from Iran, by the Hizbullah launchers amassed along Israel's northern border or through Kassam rockets and other missiles being amassed within Judea and Samaria. "Israel is able to strike at Iran in a number of ways, not just through air strikes," Ya'alon added, "Israel has a number of options."
Ya'alon warned, though, that Iran's nuclear attainment would only be delayed by a few years, and not eliminated altogether, by a successful air strike. In the interim, Ya'alon hoped a regime change could be brought about in the Islamic country.
As of now, Ya'alon said, the Islamic republic is just 6-18 months away from nuclear capability and 3-5 years away from an operation nuclear bomb.
IDF and defense officials have sharply criticized Ya'alon's statements from several angles, claiming that there is nothing to be gained by Ya'alon disclosing military strategy publicly and worrying that his words will lead the international community to dismiss the Iranian threat, assuming Israel can handle it on its own.
Meanwhile, Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed a huge gathering of Iranians in the country's western region of Lorestan Thursday and was met with cheers after declaring: "[This nation] will not allow others to treat it with a bullying attitude, even if [they] are international bullies…They know they are not capable of inflicting the slightest blow on the Iranian nation because they need the Iranian nation. They will suffer more and they are vulnerable."
On Wednesday, Iran's delegate to the UN atomic watchdog agency threatened that the U.S. would face "harm and pain" if the UN Security Council becomes involved.