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Israeli Leaders Step Up Rhetoric Against Iran and Hamas Proxy

Israel Sees Bombing Iran as Last Option, Katz Tells Corriere

(Bloomberg) -- Israeli leaders stepped up aggressive rhetoric against Iran and a Palestinian proxy as a crucial domestic deadline looms.

Israel and the Gaza Strip’s Hamas rulers are attempting to reach a long-term truce, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that continued rocket fire from the Palestinian territory would provoke a military campaign. As frictions intensify in the Persian Gulf, Israel’s defense and foreign ministers said military action was possible to contain Iran’s military ambitions.

“If we must, we will launch a large-scale operation in Gaza, we will not come to any agreement unless all fire halts,” Netanyahu said at a media conference a day after three rockets were launched at Israel from the Gaza Strip.

Defense Minister Naftali Bennett, speaking at the same conference, said Israel “must move from restraint to offensive” to roll back Iranian attempts to cement a major military presence in Syria, on Israel’s northern doorstep. “It’s no secret that Iran is trying to build a ring of fire around our country,” he said.

Bomb Iran

Separately, Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper in response to a question that Israel was prepared to bomb Iran if necessary to stop it from acquiring a nuclear weapon. “It’s an option. We will not allow Iran to produce or obtain nuclear weapons,” Katz said.

The rhetoric heats up as Israel finds itself on the verge of a third election in less than a year unless politicians can put aside differences and form a coalition by midnight Wednesday. In this drawn-out campaign season, Israeli leaders have been eager to demonstrate a willingness to confront the country’s enemies.

Israel has waged a high-profile campaign against Iran’s atomic program, and supported President Donald Trump’s decision last year to leave the multipower nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic. Since then, Iran -- which denies it has bomb making aspirations -- has busted its limits under the accord and expanded uranium production as the decades-old confrontation over its nuclear program intensifies.

Katz also said Israeli intelligence indicates Iran plans to attack Gulf countries. Tensions in the Gulf have been ratcheted up by attacks on shipping, including crippling strikes on Saudi Arabian oil facilities in September that the U.S., Saudi Arabia and European countries blamed on Tehran. Iran denied responsibility for the assault, which was initially claimed by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

“The actions against Saudi Arabia and the oil tankers make us understand that Iran still feels strong, our intelligence information tells us that it intends to hit the Gulf countries again,” Katz said. “The threat of sanctions is not enough. The only deterrent is a credible military threat directed against the regime.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Ivan Levingston in Tel Aviv at ilevingston@bloomberg.net;Gwen Ackerman in Jerusalem at gackerman@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lin Noueihed at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net, Amy Teibel, Michael Gunn

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