Israel Matzav

Those who know aren't telling and those who are telling don't know

We've heard from former IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, former Mossad Director Meir Dagan and former General Security Service Chief Yuval Diskin, all of whom warned the Netanyahu government not to attack Iran. And we've heard from Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Barak who are attempting to retain Israel's deterrent power against the Mullahcracy. But we had not heard from the current IDF Chief of Staff, Benny Ganz. Until now.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz on Tuesday took an apparent swipe at former defense establishment officials making public pronouncements about the Iranian nuclear threat, saying that "there is a lot of idle chatter on the issue."

While discussing Israel's current security situation at a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Gantz said that in regard to a potential attack on Iran, "Only a very few people know what is and is not possible. Many people claim to know, but don't really know, and there are those that knew at one time, but don't know today."

Gantz believes that Iran has not yet decided whether to cross the threshold and develop nuclear weapons.

"The three vectors are – international diplomatic and political isolation, economic pressure applied through international sanctions, and curbing the development of different projects."

The IDF chief stated that in order to create a viable military threat, "The army must be super ready, and as far as I am concerned it is super ready.

"The only ones that can decide to give up the nuclear program are the Iranians themselves, and as an army we are prepared for this option as well," he added.

Ganz also had more to say about Dagan and Diskin.

"The Iranian issue is dynamic and very few people know what is there and what is not there; what is possible and what is impossible. Quite a few people boast about knowing things that they don't know. There is a big gap between the professional dialogue that should be held in the right forums and the public chatter that is taking place," he said.

Hmmm.

Labels: Benny Gantz, Iranian nuclear threat, Meir Dagan, Yuval Diskin

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:39 PM