Israeli Air Force Says Israel Could Strike Iran Tomorrow
By Donald Standeford, Correspondent - Follow -
Date Published: December 22, 2021 09:00PM UTC
Last Modified: December 22, 2021 09:00PM UTC
ISRAEL - Incoming Commander of Israel's Air Force (IAF) Major General Tomer Bar said that Israel can attack Iran's nuclear facilities tomorrow if needed.
"I have to assume it will happen in my time, and my shoulders already understand the weight of the responsibility" Bar said to Yediot Aharonot.
Bar was asked if Israel could successfully destroy Iran's nuclear facilities and he replied "there is no way that we will operate there, one thousand kilometers from here, and I will return home without being able to say 'I completed the mission'"
"From the moment I sat here at the head of the Force Design Directorate, and the chief of staff spoke with me, the mission of the 'third circle' (Iran) was there" he stated.
"We are not starting from zero. We equipped ourselves with F-35s, [do they] not know how to get to the third circle? We procured thousands of Iron Dome interceptors for multi-layer defense".
When Bar was asked about reports that the US refused to speed up the delivery of two KC-46 refueling tankers to Israel he said "The US is more than an acquaintance, and they have a desire to form deep and real cooperation. I do not know the reason for the refusal, but I have not yet exhausted the possibility of getting at least two refuelers in advance".
Bar also stated that as soon as Israel strikes Iran he believes the next war with Hezbollah will break out. "I have to assume that he [Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah] will automatically be all in. 30 years he has waited for this order and there is no way that he will not be there and with the highest intensity. We have to be prepared for this".
Bar said that the next war with Lebanon will involve a ground operation, saying that a ground war in combination with how effective the IAF is "is something else entirely".
"Even Hezbollah... does not know how to imagine our power" he stated. "Maybe they will try to bring in special forces or shoot at the home front, but we are no longer on this scale. We want a clear victory this time, in a shorter time and with fewer losses".
