Israel should retaliate against Iran, says former Israeli national security advisor

We’re joined from Tel Aviv by Yaakov Amidror, a former Israeli national security advisor.

We began by asking what it means when Israeli sources say there will be a response to Iran’s attack.

Yaakov Amidror: It means that after the second attack of the Iranians, direct attack on Israel, not by proxies, by launching missiles from Iran into Israel. They did it in April, we just signalled them that we can reach Iran, but we didn’t retaliate it. Now we have to make a decision and probably the retaliation will come.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: Are Israel and Iran tonight at war?

Yaakov Amidror: Call it as you want. The Iranians are launching more than 100 missiles into Israel, how do you want to call it? Call it as you want. We should retaliate if it’s a war or in another name that you would choose.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: There was a warning, Iran says it told Russia and let the United States know through channels, and for several hours today it was said an attack was ‘imminent’. Do you think there was an element of this that was for show because that gave Israelis time to get into shelters, and thankfully, so far, it seems there have not been mass fatalities.

Yaakov Amidror: I don’t think that it was for the show. If you launch more than 100 missiles from one country to another, to call it a show, it’s a very British modest way of saying something about the appreciation of what they did. This is an attack on Israel, direct attack on Israel, and the fact that they announced [it to] the Americans and the Russians doesn’t change the fact that Israel was attacked by another country, a member of the United Nations, pretending to be a civilised one. Israel should retaliate in this case. We didn’t make it in April, maybe that was a big mistake. We should do it now.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: This came, of course, on the day that Israel attacked another country, a sovereign country, Lebanon, and troops crossed into Lebanon…

Yaakov Amidror: Very interesting, very interesting remark. We were attacked from Lebanon by Hezbollah on 8 October last year without any provocation of Israel. So what we are doing now in Lebanon after getting…

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: Let’s not go back in history because we’ve had that conversation before.

Yaakov Amidror: No, no, no, you will let me finish. You will let me finish. After having more than 10,000 rockets and missiles from Lebanon into Israel, I think it is, with all due respect, a way to say something about the right of Israel to defend itself?

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: No. General, as you know, there have been many more missiles going the other way in recent months from Israel into Lebanon. But let’s put that aside. Today, Israeli forces went into Lebanon today…

Yaakov Amidror: No, I would not let you say… Before 8 October, Israel didn’t launch into Lebanon even one missile or one rocket. It was attacked, done by Hezbollah. It’s an initiative of Hezbollah, without any action of Israel, on 8 October of last year. Since then, they launched 10,000 rockets at Israel. So no, your audience should know that this was a war initiated by…

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: You’ve made that point clear.

Yaakov Amidror: Initiated by Hezbollah from Lebanon, not by Israel. Without any provocation from Israel.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: But let’s talk about what happens now. Your stated goal…

Yaakov Amidror: Israel is defending itself.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: No, I understand that. But your stated goal is to get people back into their homes in northern Israel. And the question is, when will you get to that point? How will you know when to stop? Will you have to occupy those first few miles of southern Lebanon indefinitely to stop Hezbollah coming back and attacking you again?

Yaakov Amidror: If that will be the only solution, that might be the solution. What is the alternative for Israel? To let Hezbollah attack Israel again and again and again? Only to say that we are not occupying sovereign part of Lebanon? Why the Lebanese are not doing anything? Where is the Lebanese army? Why they’re not taking Hezbollah and dismantling it according to the decision of the United Nations [Resolution] 1701, saying Hezbollah should not be in the south. The Lebanese army should be in the south. Where is the Lebanese army doing it? They are doing it, or we have to do it. If we have to do it, we have to be there. We don’t want to be there, by the way. We prefer that that will be done by the…

(Interview cuts off due to line disconnecting)