With the tone of the news showing US President Donald Trump getting ever closer to a new nuclear deal with Iran, Defense Minister Israel Katz on Monday, in speaking to the IDF high command, re-issued a threat that Israel remained ready to attack Tehran’s nuclear program.
“The central mission is to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. Israel will not allow Iran to get a nuclear weapon, and we prepared, of course, in a deep dialogue with the US,” said Katz.
The defense minister added that in Israel’s broader wars and in its fight against Iran, “we know we have someone to count on when, in the end, we will be required to undertake decisions. We know that there is someone to execute them: and this is true in any place, including with Iran – if there is a need to act [attack], there is someone who will do it.”
Despite Katz’s threat, top Israeli officials have been telling The Jerusalem Post on an ongoing basis for weeks that there is significant concern that Trump will block Israel from acting so that he can cut a mediocre nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic.
Deal or no deal?
Although Trump himself continues to mention the possibility of bombing Iran, either by Israel, the US, or both, his public comments have continued to show a heavy progression toward a nuclear deal with the ayatollahs, even if it leaves the nuclear program intact, so long as it pushes the threat farther off into the future and imposes some nuclear limits in the present.
In contrast, since October 26, 2024 when Israel’s air force eliminated Iran’s advanced S-300 anti aircraft missile systems, Katz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and other top IDF officials have repeatedly said publicly or to the Post that attacking Iran’s nuclear program is more doable than ever before.
