“We are going to defend ourselves in any way that will be effective,” Hanegbi said.
Israeli cabinet minister Tzachi Hanegbi fired back at a question on whether the Jewish State would act alone against the threat of a nuclear Iran, promising that “we are going to defend ourselves.”
“Are you telling me that … Israel would go ahead with a strike on Iran without the sign-off by the United States,” asked Tim Sebastian, host of Conflict Zone program on the German outlet Deutsche Welles, in an interview recorded Monday.
“If there will be a new agreement that will endanger the very existence of the state of Israel — what do you think we are going to do, pray? No; we are going to defend ourselves in any way that will be effective,” Hanegbi said.
Hanegbi, who currently serves as Minister of Settlement Affairs under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and is a close ally of the Israeli leader, said that such an attack would be the “last resort,” and that he hopes the United States and the international community would apply “maximum pressure on Iran to change its behavior.”
The Biden Administration has said that reviving a nuclear accord with Iran will be a priority. Meetings with European parties to the original 2015 deal could happen as soon as Friday, according to Reuters.
“Five years passed and we still see the same behavior, the same terrorism encouragement, the same endorsement of radical groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and also Yemen,” Hanegbi said in the DW interview. “We have to change the policy — and it has to happen through a dialogue between Israel and the United States.”