Israel places embassies on alert over Iran threat, ramps up air defenses

With Iran unwilling to walk back threats to the Jewish state and other regional rivals, Israel took precautions to protect its borders and its citizens worldwide.

By World Israel News Staff and TPS

On Tuesday, reports surfaced in Israel that the nation’s military altered air defenses to adjust to current threats posed by Iran.

In addition, a number of Israeli embassies across the globe ratcheted up alert levels to account for Iran’s recent actions, reported the Jerusalem Post. Iran controls  terror proxies in various nations and is widely believed to have supported a number of attacks and assassination attempts throughout the world.

The move arrives following comments on Monday evening by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the Jewish Agency’s Board of Governors that the strategic power balance in the Middle East is shifting, as Iran places precision-guided missiles across the region in an effort to threaten Israel.

Earlier Monday evening, Netanyahu held a press conference with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, in which he warned that Iran has already begun placing precision-guided missiles in Yemen, and intends to strike Israel from these positions.

At that event, Mnuchin pledged more sanctions on Iran to intensify the U.S.’ “maximum pressure campaign.”

Addressing hundreds of Jewish community leaders from around the world at the Jewish Agency event in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said, “We must be strong. And to be strong, we have to be united as a people; united in spirit, united in our quest to secure the future of the Jewish state and the Jewish people.”

Netanyahu also addressed the budgetary requirements of developing the required military strength, saying that funds would have to be taken from civilian purposes in favor of military ones.

“To be strong, we must advance our military might. And to be strong militarily, we now have to shift funds from the civilian areas to the military ones,” he said.

“That is very hard to do. You can do it in a time of crisis, when things happen that everybody can see, or you can do it in anticipation of avoiding a crisis. And that requires a very broad-shouldered government. That’s what we need today,” he added.