Just because 3 US aircraft carriers in the Arabian Gulf are not enough, Israel's Lt General Benny Gantz hit the airwaves earlier today, with some additional pot stirring, and some fresh allegations which will hardly appeal to Russia, who is already using Syria as a military ship docking station (and allegedly supplying arms to the local regime). And while his statement that Iran has "enough material to create 4 nuclear bombs" may be debated, what is more concerning is his allegation that "[Iran terror organizations are] supported by Syria, Iran and even Russia." What next: the Admiral Kuznetsov [5]aircraft carrier floating gingerly between the various US CVNs in the region just keeping everyone on their toes in international waters?
From the Israel Defense Forces blog [6]:
Yesterday, the IDF chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz spoke at the annual Herzliya Conference and addressed Israel’s security situation. The following are the main excerpts from his speech:
“Iran is working towards military nuclear capabilities and can be fully armed within a year… Iran is a global, regional and Israeli threat and problem.”
“[Terror organizations are] supported by Syria, Iran and even Russia who continues sending ammunition to Syria. The Middle East is currently arming more than any other region in the world, and we are the target of all this ammunition.”
“Every region in Israel is currently under threat… our enemies are trying to create a military system that skips Israel’s defense capabilities and directly targets the strategic depth of the State of Israel.”
“The world must continue isolating Iran… the pressure and financial sanctions should be continued as they are beginning to sprout results, even within Iran… We continue building powerful, impressive, trustworthy, prepared, and well-trained military capabilities, and we must be ready to employ them, if the need arises.”
“The IDF greatly strengthened during the last few years and previous gaps have been matched. It is crucial that we maintain this trend for future obstacles aren’t any less challenging. We need as much accurate, continuous power as possible that will bring us to an undisputed, fast victory over our enemies.”
Today, following the chief of staff’s speech, IDF Head of Military Intelligence, Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi spoke at the conference as well:
“Iran has enough material to create four nuclear bombs. It continues developing such material and claims that it is doing so for peaceful and civilian purposes.”
“Iran is nearly capable of acquiring nuclear weapons. It is not dependent on additional development but rather a matter of decision.”
“The enemy is disappearing from the battle field, and if in the past a company commander would look through binoculars at the battle field and see the enemy, today against Lebanon or Gaza we will not see anything. Every tenth house in Lebanon serves as a missile storage facility or a rocket launching site.”
Full Clip: