Netanyahu Adviser Raises “MAD” Nuclear Scenario

Israel must have “tremendously powerful” weapons to deter a nuclear attack or destroy an enemy that dares to launch an atomic strike, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted on Thursday as saying.

National security adviser Uzi Arad, in comments to Haaretz newspaper, appeared to allude to what is widely believed to be Israel’s own nuclear arsenal and a standing policy of “mutually assured destruction” (MAD). He warned other countries they could bring about their own devastation if they launched an attack.

Israel has never confirmed it has atomic arms.

In excerpts on Haaretz’s English-language website of an interview to be published on Friday, Arad said he feared that if Iran became a nuclear power, five or six other states in the Middle East would follow suit. He called such a prospect a “nightmare” for Israel.

“The defensive might we have must be improved and become tremendously powerful, and create a situation in which no one will dare to realise the ability to harm us,” Arad said.

“And if they do dare, we will exact a full price, so that they too will not survive.”

Israel has three German-made submarines that are widely assumed

via Reuters AlertNet – Netanyahu adviser raises “MAD” nuclear scenario.

Netanyahu – Threat Of Terror Is Greater Than Ever

As Israel commemorated Memorial Day for its fallen soldiers and victims of terror on Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the global threat of terror was greater than ever and vowed that Israel would never cease to defend itself.

“We have no choice but to fight terror until it is obliterated and to defend our lives,” he told bereaved families gathered for the official state ceremony on the Mount Herzl military ceremony in Jerusalem.

“This is what we have done and what we are doing. The State of Israel, through the Israel Defense Forces, has responded with war, determination and diligence, with courage and sophistication, using an incomparable morality of combat,” he said.

“Terror is a war crime, the indiscriminate murder of innocent civilians,” the prime minister added.

Israelis stood silently at attention on Tuesday morning as a two-minute siren wailed across the country to mark Memorial Day. The official day of remembrance opened on Monday evening and will continue into Independence Day after sundown on Tuesday.

via Source

Netanyahu Says Iran Will Not Get Hands On Nukes

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s leading candidate for prime minister, said Saturday that Iran “will not be armed with a nuclear weapon.”

In an interview with Israel’s Channel 2 TV, Netanyahu said if elected prime minister his first mission will be to thwart the Iranian nuclear threat. Netanyahu, the current opposition leader and head of the hardline Likud party, called Iran the greatest danger to Israel and to all humanity.

When asked if stopping Iran’s nuclear ambitions included a military strike, he replied: “It includes everything that is necessary to make this statement come true.”

Iran has denied it is seeking to acquire nuclear weapons and says it is pursuing nuclear power for peaceful uses. It also denies it is engaged in terrorism, instead accusing Israel of terrorist policies against the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, which were occupied by Israel after the 1967 Mideast War.

via Source